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LARGER CATECHISM 

OF THE 

Doctrines, History, 
and Polity 

of THE 

Methodist Protestant Church. 
JOHN SCOTT, D. D. 



Methodist Protestant Board of Publication, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

U. S. Fleming, Agent, 422 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
W. J. C. Dulaxy, Agent. 8 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Md. 




COPYRIGHT, 1897. 
BY 

The Pittsburgh directory 
of THE 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 



PREFACE. 



This little volume claims no originality of thought. 
It is an humble attempt to collect and arrange a brief 
and simple outline of the principal doctrines of the 
Methodist Protestant Church, as the author learned them 
from the fathers and the doctrinal standards recognized 
by the denomination; together with some of the leading 
facts connected with the history of Methodism and of the 
Methodist Protestant Church; and a full and complete 
view of the polity or system of government adopted by 
the Church. When a person gets a clear outline of any 
subject, it greatly assists him in obtaining a fuller and 
more comprehensive view of it in detail. Such an out- 
line, except as it relates to the polity of the Church, is 
all that is contemplated here. It is presumed that even 
this brief view will be valuable to members of the Church 
who may not care to extend their investigations further, 
and that it will be useful in giving those who have no 
knowledge of our Church, a pretty correct idea of its 
doctrinal views, its origin and present condition, and its 
republican system of church government. The author 
can not but think that it will also be useful to young men 
entering the ministry in our Church, and convenient for 
even older ones. 

A full and complete view, without any essential omis- 
sion, is given of the Elementary Principles, the Constitu- 
tion, and the Administrative Rules of the Church. A 
few comments are made, and some corrections or amend- 
ments are suggested, of the propriety of which the reader 



must judge. Everything really essential in connection 
with our General Church Boards is given; but nothing 
more than a general reference is made to the Ritual, 
Boundaries of Annual Conference Districts, Forms of 
Church Papers, etc. This was deemed sufficient. 

A careful consideration of our system of Church Gov- 
ernment will doubtless convince the reader, as it has 
more fully the author, of its great excellence. Like every- 
thing human, it has its defects, but these, compared with 
its excellencies, are very slight. Our people are not suf- 
ficiently informed in reference to our doctrines, history, 
and polity. It is thought that this little volume will give 
valuable information, and form a sort of vade mecum, or 
hand-book, that will be both convenient and useful. 

THE AUTHOR. 



PART !. 



DOCTRINES. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 
I. 

DIVINE EXISTENCE 

GOD. 

Revealed in his Works and in his Word. 

II. 

DIVINE REVELATION. 

THE BIBLE. 

Revelation Possible — Necessary — Probable — How Revealed 
— External Evidence — Internal Evidence — Collateral Evidence 
—Experimental Evidence — Preservation of the Scriptures. 

III. 

DIVINE TEACHINGS. 

1. CHARACTER OP GOD. 
Divine Attributes: — Unity — Trinity in Unity — Eternity — 
Spirituality — Omnipotence — Omnipresence — Omniscience — 
Wisdom — Immutability — Justice — Truth — Goodness — 
Mercy — Holiness. 

2. WORKS OP GOD. 
Creation: —The Heavens and the Earth— Angels— Man. 

3. FALL OP MAN. 
Made Upright— Placed Under Law— Voluntarily Trans- 
gressed — Effects of Transgression. 



4. DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 



God Exercises a Divine Providence over all things that he 
has made — Special—Wise — Just—Good. 

5. REDEMPTION. 

1. Christ in Promise. 2. Christ in Prophecy. 3. Christ in 
Type. 4. Christ in Person. 5. Christ in his Offices— (1) 
Prophet. (2) Priest. (3) King. 6. Christ in his Humiliation. 
7. Christ in his Exaltation. 

6. BENEFITS OF REDEMPTION. 
(1) UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS. 

[1] Personal Existence. [2] Salvation Made Possible for 
All Men. [3] Salvation of Infants and Other Irresponsible 
Persons. [4] Source of Salvation in God. 

(2) CONDITIONAL BENEFITS. 

[1] Justification. [2] Faith. [3] Repentance. [4] Regen- 
eration. [5] Adoption. [6] Sanctification. [7] Christian Per- 
fection. 

7. MORAL DUTIES. 

The Decalogue, or Ten Commandments— Summary of the 
Moral Law — Love to God — Love to man. 

IV. 

DIVINE INSTITUTIONS. 

1. Marriage. 2. The Sabbath. 3. The Church. 

DIVINE ORDINANCES. 

1. Baptism. 2. The Lord's Supper. 



VI. 



DIVINE RETRIBUTION. 

1. Death. 2. The Resurrection. 3. The Judgment. 4. Pun^ 
ishment of the wicked. 5. Happiness of the saved. 



PART II. 

ORIGIN OF METHODISM. 

John Wesley — Conversion—Preaching — Organization of So- 
cieties. — Success. 

METHODISM IN THIS COUNTRY. 

Early Preachers— Methodist Episcopal Church — Dissatis- 
faction— Reform Movement. 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

Organization — Success — The Question of Slavery — Separa- 
tion — Reunion — Missions — Education — Publications — 
Statistics. 



PART III. 
ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 

CONSTITUTION. 

Title— Terms of Membership — Division into Districts, Sta- 
tions and Circuits — On Receiving Churches — Monthly Meetings 
— Quarterly Conference — Composition and Powers of the An- 
nual Conferences — Composition of the General Conference — 
Powers of the General Conference — Restrictions on the Legis- 
lative Assemblies — Officers of the Church — Presidents of An- 



nual Conferences — Ministers — Class Leaders — Conference Stew- 
ards — Station and Circuit Stewards — Suffrage and Eligibility 
to Office — Judiciary Principles — Privileges of Accused Ministers 
and Members. — Discipline Judiciary — Special Call of the Gen- 
eral Conference — Provisions for Altering the Constitution. 

JUDICIAL REGULATIONS. 

Trial of Ministers, Preachers and Members — Trial of 

Churches. 

GOVERNMENT OP THE CHURCH. 

Quarterly Conference — Annual Conference — The Electoral 

College — Setting Offi New Districts — General Conference. 

OFFICIAL DUTIES. 

Duties of President — Duties of Pastors — Duties of Associate 
Pastors — Supernumerary Ministers — Duties of Unstationed 
Ministers — Duties of Class Leaders— General Duties of Trus- 
tees—Duties of Stewards. 

GENERAL BOARDS. 

Board of Foreign Missions— Board of Home Missions- 
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society— Woman's Home Mis- 
sionary Society — Board of Ministerial Education— Board of 
Publication— General Agents— Church Extension— Society of 
Christian Endeavor. 

RITUAL. 
Various Forms for Special Services. 

FORMS OF CHURCH PAPERS. 

Release From a Station or Circuit— License to Exhort — Li- 
cense to Preach— Elder's Credentials— Certificate of Church 
Membership— Certificate for an Unstationed Minister or Preacher 
who Desires to Remove— Certificate for a Stationed Minister or 
Preacher who Desires to Remove to Another District — Trans- 
fer — Certificates of Election. 



CATECHISM. 



i. 

DIVINE EXISTENCE. 

GOD. 

Q. What is the fundamental principle of all religion? 

A. A belief in the existence of God. 

"He that cometh to God must believe that he is." 
Heb. ii :6. "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." Jno. 
14:1. 

Every system of religion, whether true or false, rec- 
ognizes the existence of some being which it regards 
as supreme, and the object of worship. 

O. How do we know there is a God? 

A. By his works, and by his word. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
ment showeth his handiwork." Psa. 19:1. "For the in- 
visible things of him from the creation of the world are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
made, even his eternal power and Godhead." Rom. 1 :20. 
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in 
time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these 
last days spoken unto us by his Son." Heb. 1:1-2. 

The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of 
God, but assumes it as a truth generally known and ad- 
mitted. It is supposed that before the time of Moses 
Atheism was unknown, and that the idea of "one su- 
preme and infinitely perfect God was familiar to men." 
It remained for a later period to develop a spirit of un- 
belief which called the divine existence in question. 



12 



CATECHISM. 



To meet this spirit of unbelief many arguments have 
been used to prove the existence of God. Some have 
maintained that the idea of God is innate — inwrought in 
the very constitution of the human soul. "The being of 
God," says Pope, "is at once an innate idea and a truth 
demonstrable and to be demonstrated. * * * The ex- 
istence of God God alone can reveal. He has wrought 
this supreme truth into the constitution of human nature 
as its Creator. Scripture, which never proves the being 
of the Supreme, appeals to this consciousness; it also 
gives the reason of its disturbance, and thus by anticipa- 
tion obviates the force of every argument against it. 
The history of the human race demonstrates, by the very 
perversions of the idea of God to which it bears witness, 
the fact that his existence needs no demonstration." 

"But," as Dr. Summers remarks, "we know nothing 
of innate ideas of any kind. We are not conscious of 
any thing in our intellect that was not first in our senses, 
or that did not originate in our reflection, unless it be 
the intellect itself." 

Others contend that the knowledge of God is intuitive 
— a direct perception of the soul. Raymond says: "The 
affirmation that the idea of God is intuitive, is an affirma- 
tion that the idea arises in the mind precisely in the same 
w r ay as do ideas of time, space, substance, and others of 
that class of thoughts. That this affirmation is true it 
would seem is sufficiently evident from the well known 
laws of thought." But, notwithstanding this assertion, 
Summers inquires, "Is every man conscious of possess- 
ing intuitively a knowledge of the simple being of God? 
The consciousness of most men will probably depose 
that even this idea was acquired by instruction and re- 
flection, along with some notion, however vague, gro- 
tesque, distorted, of the character of God." 

Another argument in proof of the existence of God 
is drawn from our idea of a most perfect being. This 



CATECHISM. 



is a very abstruse argument, and with the majority of 
men can have but little force. 

An a priori argument — reasoning from the cause to 
the effect — has been employed by many persons highly 
esteemed for their learning and piety, but it does not ap- 
pear to be of much practical value. 

Others maintain that the existence of God may be 
proved by the evidence of design in the universe. 
"Wherever contrivance is discovered, there is indu- 
bitable evidence of a contriver; design necessitates the 
recognition of a designer." The universe is full of the 
evidences of design, contrivance and adaptation, and 
must, therefore, have had a designer, an author — who is 
God. This argument is one of great strength, and must 
be convincing to every candid and intelligent mind. It 
is clearly and very forcibly presented by Howe, Paley, 
and others. There are other arguments in proof of the 
existence of God, but we have not space to even name 
them here. 

The knowledge of God is not obtained by reason, but 
by divine revelation. "It is one thing," says Tigert, "to 
make synthesis of all the teachings of nature and reason 
and declare God, before unknown, to be the necessary 
result, and quite another thing, the existence of God 
being given as a proposition for proof, to gather together 
the evidences of it." 

'The knowledge of the being, as well as the perfec- 
tions of God," says Summers, "is derived from divine 
revelation — the fragments of which are scattered all over 
the world — and is developed by the careful study of nat- 
ure, and subjectively by the operation of the Holy 
Spirit, who reveals him to our faith, 'that we might know 
the things that are freely given us of God.' " 

The knowledge of God, though obscured by sin, has 
always been in the world since the first man conversed 
with his Maker. "It is therefore to be concluded," says 



*4 



CATECHISM. 



Watson, "that we owe the knowledge of the existence 
of God, and of his attributes, to revelation alone; but 
being now T discovered, the rational evidence of both is 
copious and irresistible." We must understand this to 
embrace the original revelation which God made of him- 
self to man. 

"The knowledge of God was originally communicated to 
man by his Creator, who held personal intercourse with him. 
These manifestations were reported to the human family, and 
perpetuated from age to age. But as unwritten traditions are 
liable to distortion and ultimate extinction, God saw proper to 
embody them in written revelations, duly authenticated and 
providentially perpetuated through every age. The fullest 
manifestation has been made in the incarnation of his Son, 
which stupendous fact, with all its concomitant and conse- 
quent wonders, has been duly attested by competent wit- 
nesses."— tfiewimers. 



II. 

DIVINE REVELATION. 

THE BIBLE. 

Q. Has God given a revelation of his character and 
will to man? 
A. He has. 

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: 
but those things which are revealed belong to us and to 
our children." Deut. 29:29. 

Q. Where may this revelation be found? 

A. In the Bible. 

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto 
my path.' 1 Psa. 119:105. "Search the Scriptures; for in 
them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they 
which testify of me." Jno. 5 :^g. 



CATECHISM. 



*5 



Q. What does the word Bible mean? 

A. It means, by way of eminence, The Book. 

Q. What other terms are sometimes used to denote 
this divine revelation? 

A. The Word of God — The Sacred Scriptures — and 
The Old and A'ezv Testaments. 

REVELATION POSSIBLE. 

O. Was such a revelation from God to man as that 
contained in the Bible possible? 
A. It was. 

"He that planted the ear, shall not he hear? he that 
formed the eve, shall lie not see? He that chastiseth 
the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man 
knowledge, shall not he know?'' Psa. 94:9-10. 

Xo one who believes in the existence of God, and in 
his infinite wisdom, goodness and power, can call its pos- 
sibility in question, or doubt his ability fully to authenti- 
cate it when made. 

REVELATION NECESSARY. 
O. Was such a revelation necessary? 
A. It zvas. 

"Canst thou by searching find out God?" Job 11:7. 

Unaided human reason could never form a correct 
notion of God. The blindness, superstition, and deep 
moral degradation of the heathen, who have not the 
Bible, afford sufficient evidence of this truth. "The world 
by wisdom knew not God." 1 Cor. 1:21. 

REVELATION PROBABLE. 

O. A divine revelation being possible and necessary, 
was it probable? 
A. It was. 



1 6 CATECHISM. 

If God is a good being, and has the wisdom and 
power, we would naturally expect him to reveal himself 
to his intelligent creatures, when it is necessary to their 
highest good. 

HOW REVEALED. 

O. How was this revelation made? 

A. By divine inspiration, 

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the 
will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21. "All Script- 
ure is given by inspiration of God." 2 Tim. 3:16. 

"All evangelical Christians hold the Scriptures to be di- 
vinely inspired; that is, that the authors of the sacred writ- 
ings were so controlled, or moved upon, by the Spirit of God, 
that they were enabled in general to do their work with in- 
fallible accuracy; yet within this limitation there are widely 
different views as to the particular method by which truth 
was conveyed from the mind of God to man." — Potts. 

Some contend that every word of Scripture, as well 
as every thought, was dictated by the Holy Spirit. Others 
hold that the thoughts only were inspired, and that the 
sacred writers were left to use their own style in record- 
ing the truths divinely impressed upon their minds. 
Some notice three degrees of inspiration — superintend- 
ence, elevation, and suggestion. "Superintendence signi- 
fies the care exercised over those related things which they 
knew by ordinary means, and by which they were pre- 
served from the possibility of error. Elevation pre- 
vailed, says Dr. Doddridge, 'when the faculties, though 
they acted in a regular and common manner, were ele- 
vated or raised to some extraordinary degree, so that the 
composition was more truly sublime, noble and pathetic, 
than what would have been produced merely by the force 
of man's natural genius.' Suggestion is 'the highest kind 
of inspiration, and took place when the use of the facul- 
ties was superseded, and God as it were spoke directly 



CATECHISM. 



to the mind; making such discoveries to it as it could not 
otherwise have obtained, and dictating the very words 
in which these discoveries were to be communicated to 
others. — Dick. 

"We do not apply the term, inspiration, in the same sense 
to the whole of the Scripture, "because the same degree of di- 
vine assistance was not necessary in the composition of every 
part of it. In some parts, if I may so speak, there is more of 
God than in others. When a prophet predicts the events of 
futurity, or an apostle makes known the mysteries of redemp- 
tion, it is God alone that speaks; and the voice or pen of a 
man is merely the instrument employed for the communica- 
tion of his will. When Moses relates the miracles of Egypt, 
and the journeys of the Israelites in the wilderness, or the 
evangelists relate the history of Christ, they tell nothing but 
what they formerly knew; but without the assistance of the 
Holy Spirit, they could not have told it so well. 'In some cases/ 
says Bishop Lincoln, 'inspiration only produces correctness 
and accuracy in relating past occurrences, or in reciting the 
words of others; in other cases it communicates ideas not 
only new and unknown before, but infinitely beyond the reach 
of unassisted human intellect, and sometimes inspired prophets 
delivered predictions for the use of future ages, which they did 
not themselves comprehend, and which cannot be fully under- 
stood till they are accomplished.' "—Dick. 

Whatever theory of inspiration may be adopted, we 
may rest assured that the sacred writers were so inspired 
that the Bible omits nothing that God intended it to con- 
tain, and it contains nothing but what he intended it to 
embrace. The Bible is God's book; it is what he in- 
tended it to be: and it is perfectly adapted to the end for 
which it was designed. A curse is denounced against 
any one who shall add to or take from the words of this 
book. 

EXTERNAL EVIDENCE. 

O. Is there anv external evidence of the truth of the 
Bible? 

A. There is; the evidence derived from prophecy. 
Many predictions of events hundreds of years in the 
future when announced, and which only God could fore- 



CATECHISM. 



know, are contained in the Bible, and have been literally 
fulfilled, showing that the men who uttered these 
predictions were inspired by God. 

"Prophecy is a miracle of knowledge, a declaration, or de- 
scription, or representation of something future, beyond the 
power of human sagacity to discern or to calculate, and it is 
the highest evidence that can be given of supernatural com- 
munion with the Deity, and of the truth of a revelation from 
God."— Home. 

O. To what do the prophecies of the Bible relate? 

A. They relate to a variety of subjects, only a few of 
which can be noticed here. 

1. It was predicted of Abraham that God would 
make of him a great nation, and that his name should 
be great. Gen. 12:1-3; 27:13-14. 

2. Of Ishmael, that his seed should be numerous, 
that he should dwell in the presence of his brethren, and 
that he should be unsubdued. Gen. 16:9-12. 

3. Of the Jews, that they should as a people be over- 
thrown and scattered among all nations. Deut. 28:63- 
65; Lev. 26:30-33. 

4. Of Babylon, that it should be overthrown and 
destroyed. Isa. 13:19-22. 

5. Of Tyre, that it should become a place for the 
spreading of nets. Ezek. 26:3-5. 

6. Especially does it abound in predictions of the 
Messiah — The time of his advent was foretold, Dan. 9: 
23-25 ; from wdiom he was to descend, Jer. 23:5-6; that he 
was to be born of a virgin, Isa. 7:14; in Bethlehem of 
Juclea, Micah. 5:2; that, he was to enter Jerusalem in tri- 
umph, Zech. 9:9; that he was to perform great miracles, 
Isa. 35 :5-6; that he was to suffer and die, all the particu- 
lars being given with great minuteness, Isa. 53:3-9; Psa. 
41:9; Zech. 11:12-13; that he should rise from the dead, 
Psa. 16:9-10; Jno. 2:28; and that he should send the Holy 
Spirit, Joel 2:28. 



CATECHISM. 



19 



That all these predictions have been literally 
fulfilled is attested by the clearest and strongest evidence. 
These are but a few of the many prophecies that have 
been strikinglv fulfilled, proving that the Bible is from 
God. 

Q. Is there any other external evidence of its truth? 

A. Yes; the evidence derived from miracles. 

Many miracles — wonderful works — which only God 
could perform, were wrought by Moses and the prophets, 
by Christ and his apostles, to prove the divinity of their 
mission, and the truth of their doctrines. "God also 
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and 
with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, accord- 
ing to his own will." Heb. 2:4. Christ says, "The works 
which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works 
that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent 
me.'' Jno. 5:36. 

The importance of miracles as an evidence of the 
reality of divine revelation cannot easily be overesti- 
mated. When God sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand 
the liberation of his people Israel, he attested his divine 
mission by the performance of miracles — great and won- 
derful works. When John the Baptist demanded of 
Christ a sign or evidence of his Messiahship, he referred 
him to his miracles as affording sufficient evidence of the 
fact. Jno. 5:36. This shows the divine estimate placed 
upon miracles. 

Some men, however, have asserted that the miracu- 
lous facts adduced in evidence of the truth of Christianity 
can not be made credible to human belief. Scientists, 
we are told, have laboriously and successfully studied 
the laws of the material universe, and have shown us that 
there is a calm, unvarying and unbroken order of nature, 
and that all events in the material universe occur in har- 
mony with this unbroken order. This is a position which 
the advocates of miracles do not deny. "The last word 
of philosophy on the subject,'' says Dr. Pope, "is that 



20 CATECHISM. 

our faith in the stability of nature is a primary law of 
human thought, as certainly bound up in our mental 
constitution as our consciousness of personal identity. " 
(Com. of Christ. Theology, page 64). This fact, it is 
claimed, is at once necessary and fatal to miracles. With- 
out a uniform order of nature there could not be, as in 
the case of miracles, any departure from it; and if it is 
uniform, such a departure would be impossible. This 
latter conclusion is by no means admissible. "If there 
is a personal God/ 1 says Dr. Pope, "there can be no a 
priori reason why he should not interfere with his own 
laws. No continuity and unbroken order of sequence 
in cause and effect can be made an argument against 
the possibility of its being disturbed." "Revelation shows 
us the Maker of the laws of the universe, which we un- 
derstand only as the invariable sequence of cause and 
effect, introducing when he pleases a new cause; not 
violating his own laws, or arresting them; not using the 
operation of more extensive laws than those known to 
exist, but simply bringing in new causes of new effects 
when he sees fit." (Com. Christ. Theol., page 64). This 
does not in any way conflict with our belief in the stability 
of the order of nature. "Now," continues Dr. Pope, "we 
have an equally firm faith, operating as a primary law of 
thought, that an omnipotent being can, if he will, put 
forth his finger and regulate in a new way laws the gen- 
eral order of which he does not violate. On this con- 
viction rests all the evidence miracles need as they are 
manifestations of a divine presence. (Com. Christ. Theol., 
pages 64, 65). 

A sect of ancient philosophers held to the doctrine 
of an irresistible fate, to which they believed the gods 
as well as men were subject. Men who deny the pos- 
sibility of miracles, as in conflict with the established 
order of nature, are but little better. They represent 
God as tied down by certain material laws which he can 
neither relax nor vary. They recognize no God outside 



CATECHISM. 



21 



of nature, and above nature, who, for reasons sufficient 
to himself, can introduce new forces into nature, and pro- 
duce new phenomena. According to their theory, nat- 
ure, like a great machine, has been arranged and set in 
motion, and moves on forever with unvarying precision, 
above and beyond the control of its Maker. Such a theory 
virtually dethrones the Almighty, and rejects all religion. 
If there is a God, he must be above nature, and able to 
modify its laws in special cases, without interrupting its 
general order, or to perform acts outside of the opera- 
tion of its general laws, as he may see fit. 

But even admitting the possibility of miracles, it is 
asserted that they can not be rendered credible by human 
testimony. We are tcld, that facts so at variance with 
all we know of nature can not be established by historical 
testimony. 

It may safely be affirmed, that any fact that is clearly 
cognizable by the human senses, may be established by 
human testimony, it matters not what the nature of the 
fact may be; for there can not be anything in the nature 
of any fact, which antecedently renders it incredible. A 
fact may never have occurred' before, and it may never 
occur again, but if it occur under such circumstances as 
to demonstrate to the senses of competent witnesses its 
existence, it is as susceptible of proof as if it had occurred 
a thousand times. The fact that intelligence can be trans- 
mitted by electricity was as fully established when the 
first message, "What hath God wrought,'' was flashed 
over the wire between Washington and Baltimore, as 
it is to-day, after millions of messages have been sent. 
The proof of that particular fact was then complete. Its 
occurrence the second or the hundredth time, does not 
render its occurrence the first time any more certain. 

"Every man of common sense," says Dr. Timothy 
Dwight, "knows, and can not avoid knowing, even at a 
glance, that all the evidence we possess, or can possess, 
of the existence of any fact, is furnished by the present 



22 



CATECHISM. 



testimony of our senses to that fact. Of course, every 
such man knows equally well, that no testimony of the 
senses to any preceding fact can affect a present fact in 
any manner whatever. The person, who is now present 
in this house for the first time, has all the evidence that 
. he is here, which is possessed by him, who has been here 
a thousand times before. The evidence of the senses to any 
single fact is all the evidence of which that fact is ever 
capable. Nor can it be increased, in the minutest degree, 
by the same evidence, repeated concerning similar facts, 
existing afterwards, in any supposable number of in- 
stances." (Dwight's Theol., vol. 2, page 257). 

All our knowledge of the outward world is .obtained 
through the medium of our senses. Our organs of 
sense in their natural and normal state are reliable. To 
suppose the contrary is to suppose that God has stamped 
a falsehood on our original sensibilities. If we can not 
rely on our senses, we can not rely upon anything. If 
the testimony of our senses is received in one case, why 
should we not accept it in another? And if it is rejected 
in one case, why not in every case? The testimony of a 
witness who is discredited in one particular is considered 
worthless, for if he will lie in one thing, who knows but 
that he will lie in everything? The evidence of our senses 
is the highest and the only evidence we can have of ex- 
ternal things. And we must not accept and reject this 
evidence according to our own caprice. It is as reliable 
in one case as in another. 

When we have not the testimony of our own senses 
to matters of fact, the testimony of those w T ho witnessed 
them is the highest and only evidence we can have of 
their reality. This kind of evidence is universally ac- 
cepted, even in cases of property and life. The only 
question involved is the credibility of the witnesses and 
their knowledge of the facts to which they testify. 

In support of the truth of the miracles of the gospel, 
w r e have the testimony of men who had the evidence of 



CATECHISM. 



2 3 



their senses, under circumstances which precluded the 
possibility of deception, to their reality. And this is 
the only kind of evidence by which their truth, or the 
truth of any other historical fact, can be established. If 
we reject the testimony of credible eye-witnesses to the 
reality of the facts to which they testify in one case, how 
can we accept similar testimony in another? The reality 
of the gospel miracles rests on the very same kind of evi- 
dence by which the most important facts of history are 
authenticated. 'The proof of matters of fact," says 
Greenleaf, "rests on moral evidence alone; by which we 
mean not only that species of evidence which is employed 
in cases respecting moral conduct, but all evidence which 
we do not obtain either from our own senses, from in- 
tuition, or from demonstration. In the ordinary affairs of 
life we do not require nor expect demonstrative evidence,, 
because it is inconsistent with the nature of matters 
of fact, and to insist on its production would be unreason- 
able and absurd. And it makes no difference, whether 
the facts to be proved relate to this life or to the next, 
the nature of the evidence required being in both cases 
the same. The error of the skeptic consists in pretend- 
ing or supposing that there is a difference in the evi- 
dence, where there is no difference in the nature of the 
things to be proved, and in demanding demonstrative 
evidence concerning things which are not susceptible 
of any other than moral evidence alone. (Greenleafs 
Testimony of the Four Evangelists, page 30). Similar 
facts must be supported by similar evidence, and what is 
sufficient in the one case is sufficient in the other. How 
can you establish any historical fact? Only by reliable 
historical evidence. Would you attempt to prove that 
Julius Caesar was born about one hundred years before 
Christ by some mathematical problem? Or would you 
attempt to prove it by some intuition or "conscious" ex- 
perience of your own mind? Or would you attempt to 
establish it by the evidence of your own senses? All 



24 



CATECHISM. 



such attempts would be utterly absurd. You might as 
well attempt to see with your nose, or to hear with your 
eyes, as to attempt to establish the fact that there ever 
lived such a man as Julius Caesar by any other than his- 
torical testimony — the testimony of contemporaries, 
which has been transmitted to us in a reliable manner. 
One sense can not perform the office of another, neither 
can one class of evidence take the place of another. If 
we reject the miraculous facts of the gospel history, as 
incapable of being established by human testimony, we 
must, to be consistent, reject all other facts of history, 
even the fact that such a person as Christ ever lived, and 
blot out the past, and believe nothing but what has come 
within the range of our own observation and experience. 

Judged by the accepted rules of evidence which con- 
trol men in all the affairs of human life, the testimony 
in the case is so clear and convincing, that our faith in 
* miracles, and consequently our faith in Christ and the 
truth of his religion, is established beyond a rational 
doubt. 

INTERNAL EVIDENCE. 

O. Is the character of the Bible itself such as to in- 
dicate its divine origin? 
A. It is. 

'The words of the Lord are pure words." Psa. 12:6. 

The matter, the style, the harmony, and the design 
of the Bible are such as might reasonably be expected in 
a revelation from God to men. It bears the impress of 
its Divine Author. 

"The system of doctrines and the moral precepts which are 
delivered in the Scriptures, are so excellent and so perfectly 
lioly, that the persons who published them to the world must 
liave derived them from a purer and more exalted source than 
their own meditations." — Borne. 

Uninspired men could not have written the Bible. In 
it is revealed everything that might be reasonably ex- 
pected, and nothing to the contrary. 



CATECHISM. 



"Everything relative to the character, the law, and the 
government of God, is described in perfect harmony with the 
ideas we derive from the light of nature; and the defects of 
the latter are abundantly supplied in the Bible. Man's 
original glorious and happy state, his present miserable and 
helpless condition; the circumstances which produced this 
awful change, and the remedy provided, able to restore us 
to felicity far exceeding our primitive estate, are here made 
Inown, perfectly consistent with reason, though far above its 
comprehension. All the doubts and difficulties respecting the 
immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the gen- 
eral judgment, are removed by the light of divine revelation. 
The providence of God is asserted, and its apparent difficulties 
are reconciled. The duties which the Bible enjoins, both to- 
wards God and man, are a reasonable service, and are ac- 
companied by suitable rewards and punishments." — Freij. 

O. What can be said of the style of the Bible? 
A. Its style is unique. 

The majesty, the authority, the sublimity, and the 
imagery of the Holy Scriptures, exceed all that has ever 
been admired in the style of mere human composition. 

O. Do the different parts of the Bible harmonize 
with each other? 

A. They do. 

The different parts of the Bible, when properly in- 
terpreted and understood, never conflict with each other. 

O. How many different books, or writings, are con- 
tained in the Bible? 

A. Sixty-six. 

0. Were these all composed by the same person? 

A. A r o; they were composed by many different persons. 

O. Were they all written in the same age and in 
the same language? 

A. No; they zvere written in different ages, during a 
period of several centuries, and in different languages. 

Q. Do these several writings, composed by so many 
different persons, in different ages, and in different lan- 



26 



CATECHISM. 



guages, constitute one harmonious system of doctrines 

and precepts? 
A. They do. 

Q. What does this show? 

A. It shows that they were all inspired by the same 
mind — the mind of God. 

O. What is the great design of the Holy Scriptures? 

A. To make men wise unto salvation, through faith, 
which is in Christ Jesus. 

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may 
be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 
2 Tim. 3:16-17. 'The law of the Lord is perfect, con- 
verting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, mak- 
ing wise the simple: the statutes of the Lord are right, 
rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is 
pure, enlightening the eyes: the fear of the Lord is clean, 
enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true 
and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they 
than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than 
honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy 
servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great 
reward." Psa. 19:7-11. 

COLLATERAL EVIDENCE. 

Q. What was the character of the age in which the 
Gospel of Christ was first preached? 

A. It was an age of learning and culture. 

Many of the people whom the apostles and early 
preachers of the Gospel addressed were "citizens of the 
most renowned cities of the then known world, educated 
under the influence of the age next succeeding the 
Augustan age, justly celebrated as that of the most dis- 
tinguished classical authors." 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Were the apostles and their co-laborers learned 
and cultured men? 

A. No; they were not. 

The apostles and early preachers of Christianity were 
unlearned men, of ordinary capacity, taken from the ordi- 
nary avocations of life, and, as Tews, were held in low 
esteem by those among whom they principally labored. 

O. How was their preaching regarded by the Tews? 

A. As u a stumbling block." 

O. In what light did it appear to the Greeks? 

A. As "foolishness." 

The apostles and early Christians encountered the 
greatest opposition, both from the Jews and the Greeks, 
or Gentiles. 

O. Was the preaching of the apostles supported by 
human authority, or, like Mohammedanism, backed up 
by force of arms? 

A. No; they were without human authority and power. 

O. Were their labors attended with success? 

A. They were. 

Early in the fourth century Christianity became the 
religion of the Roman Empire. 

O. How can we account for this success of the Gos- 
pel? 

A. Only by recognizing it as from God. 

"If this counsel or this work be of men it will come 
to nought: but if it be of God ; ye cannot overthrow it." 
Acts 5:38-39. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my 
Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Zech. 4:6. 

'•'The history of the early victories of Christianity is a 
strong enforcement of its claims. As a religion it had every- 
thing against it: so decisively against it that, on the suppo- 
sition of its being one more new cultus introduced by a hu- 
man innovator, or, as St. Paul says, Mt a man's covenant, every 
method of accounting for its swift diffusion and sway is 



28 



CATECHISM. 



baffled. Nothing in its relation to Judaism was favorable: 
the new Gospel was a miserable disappointment to the Jewish 
people: its proclamation of a crucified Messiah was unto the 
Jews a stumbling block. It had few elements of affinity with 
the philosophical systems of mankind, and made no appeal to 
the pride of human intellect: it preached a fundamental doc- 
trine that was unto the Greeks foolishness, and even that doc- 
trine [in the estimation of men] it preached foolishly. * * * 
It introduced its adherents to a society that had no attrac- 
tion but its simplicity, no rewards but persecutions in this 
life. Yet in a few decades it shook the world, and in a few 
centuries subjugated it."— Pope. 

O. What is the influence and tendency of Christi- 
anity as revealed to us in the Bible? 

A. Its tendency is to promote the best interests of men. 

The most enlightened and exalted nations of the 
earth are Christian nations, whose civilization and reli- 
gion rest on the teachings of the Bible. The best reg- 
ulated and happiest communities are those which con- 
form most strictly to the requirements of the Bible. 

"In respect to whatever is beneficial to mankind, let the 
whole surface of the earth be examined and different sec- 
tions compared, and it will be found that the most desirable 
civilization, the most desirable state of things, is where the 
Christian religion has the greatest influence. The claim of 
the Gospel that 'godliness is profitable unto all things, having 
promise of the life that now is,' will be fully sustained by a 
careful examination of the case."— Raymond. "To discounte- 
nance a religion which has done so much to promote justice, 
and mercy, and freedom, and arts, and science, and good gov- 
ernment, and domestic happiness; which has struck off the 
chains of the slave; which has mitigated the horrors of war; 
which has raised women from servants and playthings into 
companions and friends, is to commit high treason against 
humanity and civilization."— Macaulay. "There is a fifth gos- 
pel, which has been eighteen centuries in writing: the work 
of Christ among mankind. The track of his footsteps is seen 
wherever there has been any real progress in good, in love, 
in right, in the moral elevation of men. At the basis of our 
modern civilization lies the thought of Jesus."— E. de Pressenst: 



CATECHISM. 



29 



EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE. 

O. Have the claims of the Bible been submitted to 
a practical., experimental test? 

A. They have. 

"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness 
in himself." i John 5:10. "If any man will do his will, 
he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." 
Jno. 7:17. 

All who have complied with its requirements have 
experienced its truth. Millions have put to the test the 
promises of the Eible and have found them true. 

PRESERVATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

Q. Have the Scriptures been preserved entire and 
uncorrupted? 

A. They have. 

The strongest evidence of this is afforded. 

"We have evidence, equally decisive and satisfactory with 
that which has demonstrated the genuineness and authen- 
ticity of the Old and New Testaments, to prove that they have 
descended to us, entire and uncorrupted in any thing- material; 
— such evidence, indeed, as can be produced for no other pro- 
duction of antiquity." — Horne. 

O. Is this an evidence of their truth? 

A. It is. 

"Their astonishing and miraculous preservation is a strong 
instance of God's providential care, a constant sanction and 
confirmation of the truth contained in them, continued by 
him without intermission in all ages of the Church.'' — Home. 



CATECHISM. 



III. 

DIVINE TEACHINGS. 

I. CHARACTER OF GOD.— DIVINE 
ATTRIBUTES. 

UNITY. 

Q. Are there more Gods than one? 

A. There is only one living and true God. 

"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one GodJ 
Deut. 6:4. "I am God, and there is none else." Isa. 45: 
22. "We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and 
that there is none other God but one." 1 Cor. 8:4. 

The unity of God, while clearly revealed in the Bible, 
is indicated by the fact that we cannot conceive of two 
or more absolutely supreme and independent beings ; by 
the early history of the most ancient nations ; and by the 
unity of design and agency in creation and providence. 

TRINITY IN UNITY. 

Q. How many persons are in the Godhead? 

A, Three; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and 
these three are one. 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost." Math. 28:19. "The grace of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of 
the Holy Ghost, be with you all." 2 Cor. 13:14. 

Q. Is Christ God? 
A. He is. 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God." Jno. 1:1. "But 



CATECHISM. 



3* 



unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever 
and ever." Heb. 1 :8. "God was manifest in the flesh." 
1 Tim. 3:16. 

O. Is the Holy Ghost God? 

A. He is. 

"And Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thy 
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? * * * * Thou hast not lied 
unto men but unto God." Acts 5:3-4. The apostle 
styles him "the eternal Spirit." ''How much more shall 
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered 
himself without spot to God, purge your consciences 
from dead works to serve the living God." Heb. 9:14. 
Here we have three persons, Christ, the eternal Spirit, 
and God the Father. 

"In the New Testament, two persons besides the Father 
are mentioned in innumerable places, and mentioned in such 
terms as elevate them above the condition of creatures, and 
import their Divinity. Not only is the one called the Son, and 
the other the Spirit of the Father, to denote their intimate 
relation to him, but both receive the names of God and Lord 
without Qualification, are invested with Divine attributes, 
have works ascribed to them which finite power could not 
have performed, and as we have seen, are conjoined with the 
Father as objects of religious worship and obedience." — Dick. 

The doctrine of theTrinity is a mystery we can neither 
comprehend nor explain, simply, because the finite can- 
not comprehend the infinite. We believe it, neverthe- 
less, because it is clearly taught in the Bible. 

ETERNITY. 

0. How long has God existed? 

A. He is eternal; he lias always existed, and will exist 
forever. He is without beginning or end. 

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are 
the everlasting arms." Deut. 33:27. "Before the moun- 
tains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the 
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting 



32 



CATECHISM. 



thou art God." Psa. 90:2 "And God said unto Moses, 
I AM THAT I AM ; and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto 
the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." 
Exo. 3:14. "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Jno. 8:58. 

"The eternity of God has been defined to "be the intermina- 
ble possession of life, complete, perfect, and at once. The im- 
port of this definition is, that the Divine existence is not like 
that of creatures, successive; but comprehends what we call 
the past ; the present and the future." — Dick. 

This harmonizes with the inspired declaration that 
one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a 
thousand years as one day; that he is the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever. His existence with relation to time 
or duration, is infinitely different from the existence of 
any of his creatures, and to us incomprehensible. 

SPIRITUALITY. 

Q. What is God? 

A. God is an infinite, uncreated Spirit. 

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth." Jno. 4:24. "Now 
the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord 
is there is liberty." 2 Cor. 3:17. 

We are incapable of forming any conception of pure 
spirit. The Bible does not attempt to explain the mys- 
tery. 

"In thinking" of the highest Spirit, we put away every idea 
of the limitations which belong to our own spirit. The at- 
tribute gives us the simplicity and unity of the Divine un- 
compounded nature; its immateriality, immortality, and in- 
visibility. Therefore the term is, after all, the predicate of 
a personal God, distinct from the material and created uni- 
verse." — Pope. 

OMNIPOTENCE. 
Q. What can God do? 

A. He is almighty; he doeth whatsoever he zvill. 



CATECHISM. 



33 



"With God all things are possible. " Math. 19:26. 
"I know that thou canst do everything, and that no 
thought can be withholden from thee.*' Job 42:2. ''He 
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and 
among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his 
hand/" Dan. 4:35. He says himself, "I appeared unto 
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of 
God Almighty." Exo. 6:3. 

There is no limit to the power of God in accomplish- 
ing the purposes of his will. He can do every thing that 
is in harmony with his own nature and infinite perfec- 
tions. 

"We cannot easily overstate the importance of this di- 
vine perfection. It is constantly set forth in the Holy Scrip- 
tures as the ground of trust and confidence and hope and com- 
fort to those who make God their friend, and the ground of 
fear and terror to those who make him their foe. It constitutes 
the subject-matter of rapturous devotion and profound adora- 
tion. 'And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, 
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty 
thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent 
reigneth."— Summers. 

OMNIPRESENCE. 

Q. Where is God? 
A. God is everywhere. 

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall 
I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, 
thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou 
art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell 
in the uttermost parts of the sea: even there shall thy 
hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me;' Psa. 
139:7-10. "Do not I nil heaven and earth? saith the 
Lord/*' Jer. 23:24. "Behold, the heaven, and heaven of 
heavens, cannot contain thee.*' 1 Kings 8:27. 

"In the motions and powers of the elements; in the growth, 
structure, and qualities of vegetables and animals; and in the 
thoughts, volitions and actions of minds, we perceive a causal 



1 



34 



CATECHISM. 



influence and efficiency totally distinguished from every other; 
as distinct from that of man, as the agency of man from the 
movements of an atom. * * * No agent can act where he is 
not. As, therefore, God acts everywhere, he is everywhere 
present. In this agency, contrivance and skill, to which no 
limits can be set, are everywhere manifested."— Dwiglit. "God 
is every where, but he is not every thing. All things have their 
being in him, but he is distinct from all things. He fills the 
universe, but he is not mingled with it. He is the intelligence 
which guides, and the power which sustains, but his person- 
ality is preserved, and he is independent of the works of his 
hands." 

OMNISCIENCE. 

Q. What does God know? 
A. He knows all things. 

"Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no 
covering. " Job 26:6. "O Lord, thou hast searched me, 
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and 
mine up-rising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art 
acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word 
in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it alto- 
gether." Psa. 139:1-4. "Known unto God are all his 
works from the beginning of the world." Acts 15:18. 
"His understanding is infinite." Psa. 147:5. "The eyes 
of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and 
the good." Prov. 15:3. 

''Omniscience, since God is a person, is inseparable from 
Iris eternity and ubiquity. Since God inhabits eternity and fills 
immensity, since his presence extends to all duration and all 
space, immediate knowledge of all that is must be his by the 
necessity of his nature." — Raymond. 

Whatever exists exists beneath his eye; whatever oc- 
curs occurs in his immediate presence and open to his 
inspection, so that nothing can be concealed from God. 
"All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with 
whom we have to do." Heb. 4:13. 



CATECHISM. 



35 



WISDOM. 

0. Is God wise? 

A. He is the God of infinite wisdom. 

"O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, 
and his ways past finding out!" Rom. 11:33. "To the 
only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, domin- 
ion and power, both now and forever." Jude 25. 

There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom, 
as there is between the possession of a thing and its 
proper use. A man may possess great knowledge, but he 
may be very deficient in the ability to use it to advantage. 
''But the infinite wisdom of God is specially seen in the 
application of his omniscience to practical purposes — 
the choice of the best means for the accomplishment of 
the most desirable ends." This is clearly seen in the ar- 
rangements of nature and the purposes of grace. 

"Wisdom is a compound attribute being made up of knowl- 
edge to discern, and the disposition to choose good ends and 
means. The wisdom of God is formed therefore of his omni- 
science and benevolence, uniting" in planning and accomplish- 
ing all real good in the progress of his immense and eternal 
kingdom. "—Dvright, 

IMMUTABILITY. 

O. Does God change? 
A. No; he changes not. 

"The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the 
thoughts of his heart unto all generations." Psa. 33:11. 

I "Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth; and 
the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall 

. perish, but thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax 
old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, 
and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and 
thy years shall have no end." Psa. 102:25-27. "'Every 
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and 



CATECHISM. 



cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no 
variableness, neither shadow of turning." Jas. 1:17. 
"For I am the Lord, I change not." Mai. 3:6. 

In addition to the teachings of the Bible, numerous 
arguments have been presented to prove the immutabil- 
ity of God, such as his necessary existence, and the per- 
fect simplicity of his nature. It is also observed that 
every change must be either for the better, or for the 
worse. It is impossible for God to change for the better, 
for he is absolutely perfect. It is equally impossible for 
him to change for the worse, because, being absolutely 
perfect, there is no element of change in his nature, and 
no motive can be presented from without to influence 
him to change. 

We must not, however, understand this attribute in 
such a sense as to preclude the divine activity. God is 
ever active in carrying out the grand purpose of his will; 
that purpose is immutable, and harmonizes with infinite 
wisdom and divine love. This is a source of constant 
and solid comfort to the good; but at the same time is 
well calculated to fill with fearful apprehension the minds 
of the ungodly. 

JUSTICE. 

O. Is God just? 

A. He is absolutely just. 

"Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy j 
throne." Psa. 89:14. "Just and right is he." Deut. I 
32:4. "There is no God else beside me; a just God and \ 
a Saviour." Isa. 45:21. "The Lord is righteous in all 
his ways." Psa. 145:17. "O Lord God of Israel, thou 
art righteous." Ezra 9:15. "The righteous Lord loveth i 
righteousness." Psa. 11:7. 

Justice as a divine attribute may be defined as that i! 
principle in the Divine nature that constantly and in- 
variably prompts God to claim and to render that which 
is rightly due. In the exercise of this principle he has I 



CATECHISM. 



37 



given us, for our government, just laws, suited to our 
nature and relations; these laws are enjoined by proper 
sanctions; and they are impartially enforced. 

"If these particulars concurred in the administration of 
an earthly ruler, if his laws were founded in equity, the rec- 
ompense annexed to them proportionable, and rewards and 
punishments bestowed without respect to persons, we should 
pronounce his government to be just. Vv r e must conceive jus- 
tice in God to be, upon the whole, of the same nature with 
justice in men, in the same manner as we conceive an analogy 
between his wisdom, goodness, and power, and those qualities 
in ourselves." — Dick. 

TRUTH. 

O. Is God true? 

A. He is the God of truth. 

"All his works are done in truth." Psa. 33:4. "My 
covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone 
out of my lips." Psa. 89:34. 'The truth of the Lord 
endureth forever." Psa. 117:2. "He is the Rock, his 
work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God 
of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." 
Deut. 32:4. 

The truth of God is the divine guarantee of the 
stability of his justice and government. 

"Truth as a Divine perfection represents the absolute cor- 
respondence of all his revelations with the reality; and it may 
be referred to his own nature, to the revelation of the great 
system of grace under which he governs the world, and to his 
word of revelation in general whether in whole or in part."— 
Pope. 

GOODNESS. 
O. Is God good? 

A. He is infinitely good. 

"Good and upright is the Lord." Psa. 25:8. "Thou 
art good and doest good." Psa. 119:68. "There is 
none good but one, that is God." Math. 19:17. "God 



j8 CATECHISM. 

■ 

is love." Jno. 4:16. "In this was manifested the love 
of God towards us, because that God sent his only- 
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through 
him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for 
our sins." 1 Jno. 4:9-10. 

The goodness of God is not the general excellence 
of his character, but that peculiar principle of his nature 
which disposes him to communicate happiness to his 
creatures. This disposition is deducible from his act in 
creation, from the state in which living creatures are 
made, and from the abundant supply provided for their 
wants. "He opens his hand and supplies the desire 
of every living thing." Psa. 145:16. But in addition to 
the display of his goodness in nature and providence, 
it is manifested in an unspeakable manner in the gift of 
his Son in the redemption and salvation of men. 
**Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." 2 Cor. 

MERCY. 

Q. Is God merciful? 

A. He is the God of mercy and grace. 

He is "the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping 
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgres- 
sion, and sin." Exo. 34:6-7. "Let the wicked forsake 
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let 
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
Isa. 55:7. "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great 
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead I 
in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ." Eph. 
2:4-5- 

Mercy is to be distinguished from goodness. Good- , 
ness recognizes our need; mercy recognizes our guilt. 



CATECHISM. 



39 



Goodness supplies our need; mercy pardons our sins. 
Mercy is exercised towards us through Christ, because of 
his atoning merit, and of faith in his name. 

HOLINESS. 

Q. Is God a holy Being? 
A. He is the Holy One. 

"Holy and reverend is his name." Psa. 111:9. "The 
Lord our God is holy." Psa. 99:9. "Speak unto all the 
congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto 
them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am 
holy." Lev. 19:2. 

The holiness of God may be regarded as a general 
term under which all the moral excellencies of his nat- 
ure are comprehended. 

"To call God holy, is to affirm, that he renders to his crea- 
tures their due, and governs them by laws adapted to their 
nature and relations; that he is full of benevolence, and takes 
pleasure in communicating happiness to the proper objects of 
his goodness; that he deals sincerely with them, and never 
amuses them with fallacious hopes, nor terrifies them with 
imaginary fears. As a just Being, he abhors fraud, robbery, 
oppression, every infraction of the rights of one man by 
another, and every attempt to deprive him of his due; as a 
good Being, he abhors selfishness, hard-heartedness, malignity, 
cruelty, and all the thoughts, and words, and deeds, which 
are contrary to charity; as a God of truth, he abhors false- 
hood, perjury, treachery, calumny, and in short, every species 
of deceit. As a holy Being, he loves every thing which is 
conformable to his law, and hates every thing which is con- 
trary to it. 'God is light, and in him is no darkness at all/ 
His nature is pure as that fluid when it issues from its source. 
Sin is as offensive to him as a disgusting taste is to our pal- 
ate, or a loathsome object is to our eye. 'He is of purer eyes 
than to behold evil, and he cannot look upon iniquity.' " — Dick. 



CATECHISM. 



II. WORKS OF GOD. — CREATION. 
THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. 

Q. What did God create in the beginning? 

A. The heavens and the earth. 

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the 
earth." Gen. 1:1. "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast 
laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the 
work of thy hands." Heb. 1:10. "Thou hast made 
heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the 
earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all 
that is therein, and thou preservest them all." Neh. 9:6. 
"All things were made by him; and without him was not 
any thing made that was made." Jno. 1 13. 

"It cannot be denied that there remained for many ages 
among the nations, some remarkable vestiges of the history 
of the creation. It was generally believed, both that the world 
had a beginning, and that it was made out of a chaos or dis- 
orderly mass. This is agreeable to the account given by Moses, 
not that the nations generally took it from his writings, but 
from a tradition derived from the first ages." — Leland. 

Q. What does the word create mean? 

A. To bring into being; to cause that to exist which did 
not exist before. 

The word create is applied to God's act in the begin- 
ning, Gen. 1:1; to the creation of great sea-monsters, 
5:21 ; and to the creation of man, 5:27. The terms mak- 
ing, forming, building up, are applied to his subsequent 
acts in the formation of all things. 

Q. Were all finite things brought into existence by 
a power outside of, and distinct from, themselves? 
A. They were. 

To suppose that they created themselves is to sup- 
pose that they acted before they existed, which is absurd, 
and contradicts our reason; to suppose that they came 
into being by chance, is to suppose an effect without a 



CATECHISM, 



cause, which is contrary to all human observation and 
experience. 

"To believe that all things came by chance, and that the 
beauty, order and harmony of the universe are the result of 
accident, is infinitely more unreasonable than to believe in a 
self-existent, eternal, intelligent Being as the Creator." — Judge 
J. W. F. White. 

O. Is the visible universe, then, distinct from God? 
A. It is. 

"And he is before all things, and by him all things 
consist." Col. 1 117. 

God is not the universe, nor the soul of the universe, 
as was held by many heathen philosophers. While he 
pervades all things, and is everywhere present sustaining 
all things, he is absolutely separate and distinct from the 
universe he has made. 

" 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.' 
This simple sentence denies atheism, for it assumes the be- 
ing of God. It denies polytheism, and, among its various forms, 
the doctrine of two eternal principles, the one good and the 
other evil, for it confesses the one eternal Creator. It denies 
materialism, for it asserts the creation of matter. It denies 
pantheism, for it assumes the existence of God before all things 
and apart from them. It denies fatalism, for it involves the 
Freedom of the Eternal Being. It assumes the existence of 
God, for it is he in the beginning who creates. It assumes 
his eternity, for he is before all things; and as nothing comes 
from nothing, he himself must have always been. It implies 
his omnipotence, for he creates the universe of things. It im- 
plies his absolute freedom, for he begins a new course of ac- 
tion. It implies his infinite wisdom, for a kosmos, an order of 
matter and mind can only come from a being of absolute in- 
telligence. It implies his essential goodness, for the sole, eter- 
nal, almighty, a 11- wise, and all-sufficient Being has no reason, 
no motive, and no capacity for evil; it presumes him to be be- 
yond all limit of time and place, and he is before all time and 
place. "—Murphy. 

ANGELS. 

O. Were there intelligent beings in existence be- 
fore man? 

A. There were. 



CATECHISM. 



"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the 
earth? * * * when the morning stars sang together, and 
the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:4-7. 

Q. What are these intelligent beings called? 

A. Angels, or messengers. 
Q. What is their number? 
A. It is very great. 

"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and to the city 
of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and an in- 
numerable company of angels." Heb. 12:22. "The 
chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of 
angels." Psa. 68:17. 

O. What is the nature of angels? 

A. They are spiritual beings. 

"Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flam- 
ing fire." Psa. 104:4. 

O. What is their office? 

A. To minister to God and to men . 

"Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, 
that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of 
his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his host; ye min- 
isters of his that do his pleasure." Psa. 103:20-21. "Are 
they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for 
them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1 :i4. 

Angels are represented in the Bible as agents of 
God's providence to execute -his will; and as ministering 
both to the souls and bodies of men. Under former dis- 
pensations, and in the beginning of the present dispen- 
sation, their interpositions were often open and apparent, 
and although they are now invisible, we need not on this 
account doubt of their reality. The early Christian 
fathers entertained the opinion that every individual is 
under the care of a particular angel, who is assigned to 
him as a guardian. However "this may be, we know that 
they ministered to men in former ages, and we know of 



CATECHISM. 4 j 

no good reason why they should not, though invisible, 
do so now. 

O. Are all the angels good spirits? 

A. No; some of them are fallen, wicked spirits. 

'The angels which kept not their first estate, but left 
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting 
chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great 
day." Jude 6. "God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into 
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." 
2 Peter 2:4. 

O. By what names are these fallen spirits called? 

A. They are ealled by different names, such as "Satan" 
(( the Devil" "great dragon" "old serpent?' and "his angels?' 
and also other names. 

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole 
world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels 
were cast out with him." Rev. 12:9. 

O. Do they oppose the good? 
A. They do. 

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the 
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom 
he may devour/*' 1 Pet. 5:8. "For we wrestle not 
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, 
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this 
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 
Eph. 6:12. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." 
Jas. 4:7. 

MAN. 

Q, Who made man? 
A. God. 

"And he said, let us make man." Gen. 1 '.26. 



44 



CATECHISM. 



Q. In whose image did he make him? 

A. In his own image. 

"In the image of God created he him; male and fe- 
male created he them." Gen. i \2J. 

Q. In what did the image of God, in which man was 
created, consist? 

A. In his spiritual j immortal, and moral nature. 

This image is twofold, natural and more*!. The nat- 
ural image of God in man consists in his spirituality and 
immortality. Hence God is called "the Father of spir- 
its." Heb. 12:9. The undying principle with which the 
soul was endowed, is incapable of destruction, except by 
the exercise of Almighty power. His moral image con- 
sists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. 
Hence the apostle says : "Lie not one to another, seeing 
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have 
put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after 
the image of him that created him." Col. 3:9-10. And 
again: "Put off concerning the former conversation, 
the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful 
lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that 
ye put on the new man, which after God is created in 
righteousness and true holiness." Eph. 4:22-24. 

O. Out of what was man's body formed? 

A. Out of the dust of the ground. 

"And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of 
the ground." Gen. 2:7. 

Q. What did he breathe into him? 
A. The breath of life. 

"And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and 
man became a living soul." Gen. 2:7. 

Q. Is man, then, composed of body and soul? 
A. He is. 

The body is material and mortal; the soul is immate- 
rial and immortal. 



CATECHISM. 



45 



"On the question of man's direct creation in distinction to 
the hypothesis of development, and on his original position as 
a civilized being, not as a wild barbarian, we may remark, 
First, It is admitted even by the theorists themselves, that in 
the present state of the evidence the records beneath the 
earth's surface give no support to the hypothesis that every 
species grew out of some species less perfect before it. There 
is not an unbroken chain of continuity. At times, new and 
strange forms suddenly appear upon the stage of life, vith 
no previous intimation of their coming. Secondly, In those 
creatures, in which instinct seems most fully developed, it is 
impossible that it should have grown by cultivation and suc- 
cessive inheritance. In no animal is it more observable than 
the bee: but the working bee only has the remarkable instinct 
of building and honey-making so peculiar to its race; it does 
not inherit that instinct from its parents, for neither the drone 
nor the queen bee builds or works; it does not hand it down 
to posterity, for itself is sterile and childless. Mr. Darwin 
has not succeeded in replying to this argument. Thirdly, Civ- 
ilization, as far as all experience goes, has always been 
learned from without. No extremely barbarous nation has 
ever yet been found capable of initiating civilization. Retro- 
gression is rapid, but progress unknown, till the first steps 
have been taught. * * * Moreover, most barbarous races, if not 
wholly without tradition, believe themselves to have been 
once in a more favored state, to have come from a more 
favored land, to have descended from ancestors more en- 
lightened and powerful than themselves. Fourthly, Though it 
has been asserted, without any proof, that man, when greatly 
degenerate, reverts to the type of the monkey, just as do- 
mesticated animals revert to the wild type; yet the analogy 
is imperfect and untrue. Man undoubtedly, apart from en- 
nobling influences, degenerates, and, losing more and more 
of the image of his Maker, becomes more closely assimilated 
to the brute creation, the earthly nature overpowering the 
spiritual. But that this is not natural to him is shown by 
the fact,* that, under such conditions of degeneracy, the race 
gradually becomes enfeebled, and at length dies out; whereas 
the domesticated animal, which reverts to the type of the 
wild animal, instead of fading awaj r , becomes only the more 
powerful and the more prolific. The wild state is natural to 
the brutes, but the civilized is natural to man. 

"Even if the other parts of the Darwinian hypothesis were 
demonstrable, there is not a vestige of evidence that there 
ever was any beast intermediate between apes and men. Apes 



CATECHISM. 



too are by no means the nearest to us in intelligence or moral 
sense or in their food and other habits. It also deserves to 
be borne in mind, that even if it could be made probable that 
man is only an improved ape, no physiological reason can 
touch the question, whether God did not when the improve- 
ment reached its right point, breathe into him 'a living soul,' 
a spirit 'which goeth upward,' when bodily life ceases. This 
at least would have constituted Adam a new creature, and the 
fountain head of a new race." — Bishop Browne, in Bib. Com. 

Q. Was man when originally created holy and up- 
right? 

A. He was. 

"Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man 
upright, but they have sought out many inventions. " 
Eccl. 7:29. 

Q. Where was man placed? 

A. In a garden in Eden — a garden of delights. 

"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in 
Eden ; and there he put the man whom he had formed/' 
Gen. 2:8. 

O. Was he placed under divine law? 
A. He was. 

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of 
every tree of the garden thou may est freely eat; but of the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shait not eat 
of it." Gen. 2:16-17. 

President S. C. Bartlett, LL.D., holds that a moment's 
reflection will "show that not only could the principle of 
genuine obedience be tested as well in that mode as any 
other, but, what is more important, that some such 
method was the only one in keeping with the circum- 
stances of the narrative, and, further yet, the only method 
practicable in those simple conditions of early life. All 
the complicated relations of advanced civilization, and 
even of society, were wanting. Here were two persons 
in a garden of nature. Fraud, theft, adultery, arson, 
robbery were impossible, murder as yet inconceivable, 



CATECHISM. 



47 



all overt acts of cruelty, if not impossible, yet without a 
possible motive. What other form of test could or can 
well be devised than just such as that adopted, standing 
thus related to their actual life and condition." 

Q. What penalty was attached to the violation of 
this law? 

A. The penalty of death. 

"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely 
die." Gen. 2:17. 

O. Was death already in the world? 

A. The Bible does not inform us, but the presumption 
is that it was. 

The penalty of death is denounced against sin, and 
applies to man, but cannot refer to irrational animals 
which are not subjects of moral law, and which, conse- 
quently, are incapable of sinning. They may have died; 
and God threatened man with the same fate if he trans- 
gressed. The assertion that death entered into the world 
by sin is predicated of man. 

Q. What does the penalty of death pronounced 
against sin imply? 

A. In addition to natural or temporal death, it implies 
spiritual death, that awful state of ignorance and insensibility 
in sin, zi'hich excludes men from the favor and enjoyment of 
God. It also implies eternal death — everlasting banishment 
from the presence and glory of God. 

"Being alienated from the life of God through the 
ignorance that is in them." Eph. 4:18. "And you hath 
he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Eph. 
2:1. "Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
his power." 2 Thess. 1 :g. 

Q. Was man created a free, responsible moral 
agent? 

A. He was; God endowed him with the power of 
volition. 



4 8 



CATECHISM. 



"God will not force the human will — he cannot because he 
has made it will, and consequently free— freedom is essential 
to the notion of it, and to its existence. All force God will re- 
sist and overthrow that opposes the salvation of the soul; but 
the volitions of the soul he will not, cannot force, for this 
would imply the destruction of what himself wills to exist, and 
should exist in this mode: because the mode here is essential to 
the existence."— Dr. Adam Clarke. 

Q. Can man justly be held responsible for acts 
which are not voluntary on his part, but compelled by 
another? 

A. No; he cannot. 

Such acts are merely mechanical, and lack the pur- 
pose — the intent — necessary to give them moral char- 
acter. 

O. Does the Bible speak of man as a free agent? 
A. It does. 

"Choose you this day whom ye will served Josh. 24: 
15. "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." 
Jno. 5 140. "If any man will come after me, let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Math. 
16:24. "Mary hath chosen that good part which shall 
not be taken away from her." Luke 10:42. 

Q. What is sin? 

A. Sin is a violation of God's law — doing what God 
has forbidden. 

"Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 Jno. 3:4. 

Q. Is there any other form of sin? 

A. Yes; a lack of conformity to the lazv of God is sin. 

"All unrighteousness is sin." 1 Jno. 5:17. 

A man may sin by failing to do what God requires 
as well as by doing what he forbids. 

"For as the law is preceptive of good and prohibitory of 
evil, it is necessary not only that an action, but that the neg- 
lect of an action, be accounted a sin. Hence arises the first 
distinction of sin into that of commission, when a prohibited 
act is perpetrated, as theft, murder, adultery, etc= And into 



CATECHISM. 



49 



that of omission, when a man abstains from an act that has 
been commanded; as if any one does not render due honor to 
a magistrate, or bestows on the poor nothing in proportion to 
the amplitude of his means."— Arminius. 

III. FALL OF MAN. 

Q. Was man capable, in his original state of inno- 
cence and purity, of keeping the law? 
A. He was. 

He was able to obey, but free to transgress. If he 
had not power to keep the law he could not justly be 
punished for transgressing it. 

O. Did he keep the divine law? 

A. He did not, but ate of the forbidden fruit. 

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good 
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree 
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit 
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband 
with her, and he did eat." Gen. 3 :6. 

Q. By whom were our first parents tempted to dis- 
obey? 

A. By the serpent. 

"And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and 
I did eat." Gen. 3:13. "The woman whom thou gavest 
to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." 
Gen. 3:12. "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent 
beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should 
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Cor. 
11:3. 

Q. What is the law under which man was originally 
placed sometimes called? 

A. The covenant of zi'crks. 

Q. How could man be just and acceptable to God 
under that covenant? 

A. By perfect obedience. 



5° 



CATECHISM. 



"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, 
but the doers of the law shall be justified." Rom. 2:13. 
"And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my 
judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them." 
Ezek. 20:2. 

Q. What immediate effects followed man's trans- 
gression of God's law? 

A. He became subject to flic penalty denounced against 
transgression. 

First: He became mortal — subject to physical 
death. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou re- 
turn." Gen. 3:19. "So he drove out the man; and he 
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a 
flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way 
of the tree of life." Gen. 3 124. 

Second: He underwent spiritual death. The mo- 
ment the principle of rebellion entered his heart, the prin- 
ciple of love and obedience departed, and he became not 
only guilty and condemned, but morally corrupt and per- 
verse. Rom. 1:21. 

Third: He became liable to eternal death — an 
everlasting separation from the favor and fellowship of 
God. "The death, which rewards sin, in fact, and which 
would have rewarded the sin of Adam, if Christ had not 
become a mediator, and he a penitent, is eternal death." 
■ — Dwight. "And these shall go away into everlasting 
punishment." Math. 25:46. 

Q. Cculd man by future acts of obedience atone for 
his past transgression? 

A. He could not. 

He was in a helpless condition, "without strength." 
Rom. 5 :6. 

0. Was he, then, under the covenant of works, 
without hope? 
A. He was, 



CATECHISM. 5 i 

"Having no hope, and without God in the world." 
Eph. 2:12. 

O. Are we guilty of Adam's actual sin? 
A. We are net. 

God does not condemn one man for the sin of an- 
other. "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the 
father." Ezek. 18:20. 

Q. How then does Adam's sin affect us? 

A. Adam having transgressed the divine law became 
mortal in body, and morally corrupt in soul, and in his fallen 
state begat children in his own likeness, subject to physical 
death, and naturally inclined to evil. 

"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not 
one. v Job 14:4. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; 
and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psa. 51:5. "The 
wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as 
soon as they be born, speaking lies." Psa. 58:3. 

0. Is this state of moral perverseness a sinful state? 
A. It is in the sense of lack of conformity to the will 
and image of God. 

"All unrighteousness is sin." 1 Jno. 5:17. 

O. What, then, is the difference between natural 
depravity- and actual transgression? 

A. The one is the corruption of our nature that inclines 
us to sin; the other is the indulgence of that inclination. 

"The sin of our nature, indwelling in the soul, is its habitual 
state, as opposed to actual transgression. The former is sin- 
fulness, the latter more properly sin." — Pope. 

0. Is this the natural condition of all men? 
A. It is. 

"All we like sheep have gone astray." Isa. 53:6. 
"So death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." 
Ram. 5:12. 



i 



5 2 



CATECHISM. 



O. Is man totally depraved? 

A. He is in the sense that all his powers have been af- 
fected and injured by sin. 

"The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint." 
Isa. 1:5. 

IV. DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 

Q. Does God exercise a divine providence over all 
things that he has made? 
A. He does. 

He upholdeth "all things by the word of his power." 
Heb. 1 13. "In him we live, and move, and have our be- 
ing." Acts 17:28. 

"The belief of a God infers a providence. If we believe 
there is a God who made the world, we must believe that the 
same God who made the world governs it. It is as absurd and 
as unreasonable to think that the world is governed by chance 
as to think that it was made by chance; for chance can no 
more govern than it can make the world." — Sherlock. 

O. Is the providence of God special, or general? 

A. It is both special and general; it extends to every 
part, and consequently embraces the whole of God's creation. 

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, 
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your 
heavenly Father feedeth them." Math. 6:26. "Are not 
two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall 
not fall on the ground without your Father. But the 
very hairs of your head are all numbered." Math. 10:29- 
30. "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens: 
and his kingdom ruleth over all." Psa. 103:19. 

The providence of God "is either mediate or immediate, or- 
dinary or extraordinary, common or special. Immediate, 
whereby God acts in the government of the world without any 
intervening instruments; mediate, when he makes use of sec- 
ond causes or instruments of action; ordinary, when he gov- 
erns all things according to their natures and powers given 
them at their creation; extraordinary, when he does not ob- 
serve that order, but puts a stop to it, or works above it." — 
Bogue. 



CATECHISM. 



53 



Q. Is the providence of God wise and just? 
A. It is. 

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom 
hast thou made them all." Psa. 104:24. ''Shall not the 
Judge of all the earth do right? 7 ' Gen. 18:25. 

"It is no objection against the justice of providence to 
say that there are a great many miserable people in the world, 
and a great deal of injustice daily committed in it; unless you 
can prove that any of these miserable people ought not, for 
wise and just reasons, to suffer such miseries; or that any 
suffer by injustice what the} 7 ought not to suffer; for if, not- 
y withstanding all the miseries that are in the world, and all 
the wickedness that is committed in it, no man suffers any 
thing but what he deserves, or what God may wisely and just- 
ly inflict on him, this abundantly vindicates the wisdom and 
justice of providence."— Sherlock. 

O. Is the providence of God marked with goodness? 
A. It undoubtedly is. 

"The Lord is good to all; and his tender-mercies are 
over all his works. " Psa. 145:9. "He maketh his sun 
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust/' Math. 5:45. 

"Though this world be not so happy as perfect and ab- 
solute goodness can make it, yet God abounds in all the ex- 
pressions of goodness which a state of trial and discipline will 
allow, which is all we can reasonably expect, and all that God 
can wisely do for us in this state." — Sherlock. 

V. REDEMPTION. 

O. When man transgressed the divine law, did God 
interpose for his salvation? 
A. He did. 

"For when we were without strength, in due time 
Christ died for the ungodly." Rom. 5:6. "I have laid 
help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen 
out of the people." Psa. 89:19. 



54 CATECHISM. 

Q. What was the moving cause of God's interposi- 
tion in our behalf? 

A. His infinite love. 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he 
loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
sins." i Jno. 4:10. 

Q. By whom did God redeem the world? 

A. By his Son, Jesus Christ. 

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, 
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his 
grace." Eptu 1:7. "For God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
Jno. 3:16. 

I. CHRIST IN PROMISE. 

Q. Was Christ promised, as the Deliverer, to the: 
world? 

A. He was. 

O. When was this promise first given? 

A. To our -first parents before they zvere driven from 
the garden of Eden. 

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, 
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy 
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3:15. 

Q. Was this promise afterwards renewed? 

A. It was renewed to Abraham. 

God said to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the na- 
tions of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. 
O. Did this promise refer to Christ? 
A. It did. 

"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
made. He saith not, And to< seeds, as of many; but as 
of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Gal. 3:16. 



CATECHISM. 



55 



Q. Was this promise renewed to Isaac and to Ja- 
cob? 

A. It was. 

"And the Lord appeared unto Isaac, and said, Go 
not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall 
tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, 
and will bless thee: for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I 
will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath 
which I sware unto Abraham thy father; and I will 
make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will 
give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed 
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 26:2-4. 
This promise was renewed to Jacob at Bethel: "And, 
behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord 
God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the 
land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy 
seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and_ 
thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east., 
and to the north, and to the south: and in thee, and in 
thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'-' 
Gen. 28:13-14. 

The promise made to Abraham, so far as he and his 
natural posterity are concerned, has been fulfilled in a-, 
remarkable manner, nor can it be justly questioned thatr 
it is being fulfilled spiritually. 

"Abraham was not renowned either as a conqueror, a law- 
giver, or an inventor of useful and ingenious arts; he was 
neither a monarch, a genius, a philosopher, nor so much as an 
author of any sort: but a plain man, dwelling in tents, and 
feeding cattle all his days; yet perhaps no mere man has been 
so widely and permanently had in honor. The Jews, and many 
tribes of the Saracens, and Arabians, justly own and revere 
him as their progenitor; many nations in the east exceedingly 
honor his memory at this day, and glory in their real or pre- 
tended relation to him/' — Thomas Scott. 

He is held in honor by Jews, Mohammedans, and 
Christians alike everywhere. 



5* 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Was there a similar promise made to David? 

A. There was. 

"It shall come to pass when thy days be expired, 
that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise 
up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I 
will establish his kingdom." I Chr. 17:11. And again: 
"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn 
unto David my servant; thy seed will I establish for ever, 
and build up thy throne to all generations." Psa. 89 '.3-4. 
"And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou 
hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt 
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shall 
call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be 
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall 
give unto him the throne of his father David : and he shall 
reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his king- 
dom there shall be no end." Luke 1 '.31-33. 

All these promises clearly point to Christ, and evi- 
dently refer to the seed promised to our first parents in 
Eden, who should bruise the head of the serpent. 

II. CHRIST IN PROPHECY. 

Q. Was the coming of Christ predicted? 
A. It zvas. 

Dying Jacob declared, "The scepter shall not depart 
from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until 
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the 
people be." Gen. 49:10. 

Balaam said, "There shall come a Star out of Jacob, 
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. * * * Out of Jacob 
shall come he that shall have dominion." Num. 24:17-19. 

Moses said unto the people, "The Lord thy God will 
raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of 
thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." 
Deut. 18:15. 



CATECHISM. 



Isaiah declared, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a 
son is given: and the government shall be upon his 
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Coun- 
sellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government 
and peace there shall be no end." Isa. 9:6-7. 

Q. Are there any other predictions of Christ? 

A. Yes; they are very numerous, and refer to his per- 
son, his character, and his work; to the time and place of his 
birth; to the opposition he should encounter from his enemies; 
to his sufferings and death; and to his resurrection from the 
dead and ascension into heaven. 

III. CHRIST IN TYPE. 

O. Was Christ typified? 
A. He was. 

Many of the types and shadows of the Mosaic dis- 
pensation pointed to Christ and the benefits of his atone- 
ment. The law had "a shadow of good things to come." 
Heb. 10:1. "For Christ is not entered into the holy 
places made with hands, which are the figures of the 
true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence 
of God for us." Heb. 9:24. 

O. Was the paschal lamb a type of Christ? 

A. It was. 

By the application of the blood of the paschal lamb 
the children of Israel were saved from destruction. "And 
the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses 
where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over 
you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy 
you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Exo. 12:13. "For 
even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." 1 Cor. 5 \y. 

Q. Were the sacrifices offered on Jewish altars, to 
make atonement for sin, types of Christ? 

A. They were. 



CATECHISM. 



"Almost all things are by the law purged with blood; 
and without shedding of blood there is no remission. It 
was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in 
the heavens should be purified with these; but the 
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than 
these." Heb. g:22-2^. "So Christ was once offered to 
bear the sins of many." Heb. 9 128. 

Q. Was the brazen serpent a type of Christ? 
A. It is so considered. 

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even 
so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." 
Jno. 3:14-15- 

Q. Was Jonah a type of Christ? 

A. Christ recognized him as suck. 

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the 
whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and 
three nights in the heart of the earth." Math. 12:40. 

Q. Were there other types of Christ? 

A. Yes; numerous others. 

Q. What was the divine purpose in the promises, 
prophecies, and types of Christ which preceded his com- 
ing? 

A. While they all recognized our need of a Saviour, 
they were designed to excite the expectation, and prepare the 
way, of his coming. 

Q. Was this expectation realized? 

A. It was. 

"When the fullness of the time was come, Cod sent 
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might 
receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4:4-5. 



CATECHISM. 59 

IV. CHRIST IN PERSON. 
Q. When was Christ born? 

A. Near the ciose of the reign of Herod the Great, about 
four years before the present vulgar Christian era. 

"Now, when Jesus was born * * * in the days of 
Herod the king." Math. 2:1. 

O. Where was he born? 

A. In Bethlehem of ludea. 

"And when he had gathered all the chief priests and 
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them 
where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, 
In Bethlehem of Judea." Math. 2:4-5. 

O. Was this the fulfillment of a preceding pro- 
phecy? 

A. It was — that of the Prophet llieah, uttered more 
than seven hundred years before Christ was born. 

''But thou Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he 
come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.'' Micah 
5- '2. 

O. Who was his mother? 
A. Mary the espoused wife of Joseph. 
"His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph." Math. 
1:18. 

O. Had they come together? 
A. They had not. 

O. What did Joseph propose to do when he dis- 
covered Mary's condition? 

A. He proposed to put her away privately. 

"Not willing to make her a public example, was 
minded to put her away privily." Math. 1:19. 

O. Why did he not do so? 

A. Because an angel informed him that her conception 
veas miraculous. 



So 



CATECHISM. 



"But while he thought on these things, behold, the 
angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 
Joseph', thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee 
Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the 
Koly Ghost." Math, i :20. 

O. By what name w r as the child to be called? 

A. By the name Jesus. 

'Thou shalt call his name Jesus." Math. 1:21. 
Q. Why was he to be called by this name? 

A. To designate his mission. 

"He shall save his people from their sins." Math. 
1 :2i. 

O. Why was all this done? 
A. To fulfill the divine purpose. 

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring 
forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which 
being interpreted is, God with us." Math. 1 \22-23. 

O. Was Jesus, the Saviour, then, both God and 

man? 

A.. He was. While he was the * 'child born' 3 he zvas also 
"The mighty God/' 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God." Jno. "And 
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Jno. 
1:14. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
himself." 2 Cor. *5 :ig. 

O. Is not this a great mystery? 

A. It is. 

"Without controversy great is the mystery of god- 
liness: God was manifested in the flesh." 1 Tim. 3:16. 



CATECHISM. 



61 



Q. If this be a fact, why can we not comprehend it? 

A. Simply because the finite cannot comprehend the In- 
finite — the less cannot contain the greater. It is above our 
reason, but does not contradict our reason. 

Q. What is, in general, the work of this God-man? 

A. To mediate between God and us. 

"There is one God, and one mediator between God 
and men, the man Christ Jesus." I Tim. 2:5. 

V. CHRIST IN HIS OFFICES. 

Q. What offices does Christ sustain to us in his 
mediatorial work? 

A. Those of Prophet, Priest, and King. 

"The Jewish rabbins ascribed to the Messiah a threefold 
dignity, 'the crown of the law, the crown of the priesthood, 
and the crown of the kingdom.' This is the comprehensive re- 
sult of the Old Testament declarations about the promised 
Mediator. The New Testament also sets forth Christ as the 
great Teacher, the great High-Priest, and the King of kings 
and Lord of lords."— H. B. Smith. 

(I). THE PROPHET. 

O. Did Christ appear as a prophet? 
A. He did. 

He applied to himself the prophecy of Isaiah, 'The 
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; 
he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to pro- 
claim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the accept- 
able year of the Lord.'' Isa. 61 :i-2; Luke 4:18-19. 

Q. Did any of the people recognize him as a pro- 
phet? 

A. Yes, some of them did. 



62 CATECHISM. 

Nicodemus said, "We know that thou art a teacher 
come from God." Jno. 3 .2. On one occasion many of 
the people said, "Of a truth this is the Prophet." Jno. 
7:40. "Then those men, when they had seen the mir- 
acle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet 1 
that should come into the world." Jno. 6:14. 

Q. What evidence did he give of his divine mis- 
sion? 

A. That derived from his miracles. 

"No man," said Nicodemus, "can do these miracles 
that thou doest, except God be with him." Jno. 3:2. 
Christ declares, "I have greater witness than that of 
John : for the works which the Father hath given me to „ 
finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, 
that the Father hath sent me." Jno. 5 .'36. 

Q. Was there any other evidence of the fact in addi- 
tion to this? 

A. Yes; the character of his teachings. 

"Never man spake like this man." Jno. 7:46. "Fie 
taught them as one having authority, and not as the 
scribes." ' Math. 7:29. 

"The sermon on the Mount commands the admiration of 
all good and decent men, even rationalists and infidels. But 
Christ is far more than a teacher of the purest system of 
ethics; he acted it out in a spotless life; he is a Saviour and a 
King, and only from the Son of God could such a moral code 
proceed."— ScJiaff. 

Q. Did he teach the sciences, and the arts of civil 
life? 

A. No; he taught the things concerning the kingdom 
of God. 

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their 
synagogues, and preaching the gospel o f the king- 
dom." Math. 4:23. "And he said unto them, I must 
preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for there- 
fore am I sent." Luke 4:43. 



CATECHISM. 



63 



The Gospel of Christ — the Gospel of the kingdom — 
is a great system of divine mercy and grace which, if 
fully accepted and complied with, will control the hearts 
and lives of men, and bring every thought, ward, and 
act into obedience to the law of Christ. It was this Gos- 
pel that Christ preached, and it is this Gospel, and not 
human fancies and speculations, that every minister of 
Christ should preach to the people. If the world is ever 
redeemed and saved, it will not be by human philosophy, 
but by the purifying and uplifting power of the Gospel 
of Christ. 

Q. Did his teachings and doctrines harmonize in 
spirit with those of Moses and the prophets? 

A. They did. 

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the 
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Math. 

O. How do we account for this harmony? 

A. It is accounted for by the fact that the Spirit of 
Christ, before his coming, inspired the prophets. 

"Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and 
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that 
should come unto you: searching what, or what manner 
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did sig- 
nify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory that should follow." 1 Pet. 1 :ioii. 

O. Has all divine truth that is in the world been 
revealed by, or through, Christ? 

A. It has. 

He "was the true Light, which lighteth every man 
that cometh into the world." Jno. 1 :g. 

O. Did Christ annul the moral law? 

A. He did not, but enforced it in its true and full 

meaning. 



6 4 



CATECHISM. 



"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with j] 
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. 
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all i| 
the law and the prophets." Math. 22:37-40. 

Q. Was the ceremonial law done away in Christ? 

A. It was. 

O. Why was this? 

A. Because it prefigured Christ, and when he appeared ij 
it received its fulfillment, and so it passed away. 

"The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto 
Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after 
that faith is come, we are no longer under a school- 
master." Gal. 3:24-25. The law was "a shadow of 
things to come, but the body is of Christ." Col. 2:17. 

Q. Did Christ reveal to us the Father? 

A. He did, in his true character and infinite love. 

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only be- 
gotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath 
declared him." Jno. 1:18. "Neither knoweth any 
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever 
the Son will reveal him." Math. 11 '.27. 

Q. What relation did Christ represent God as sus- 
taining to us? 

A. That of universal Father. 

He taught us to address God as "Our Father which j 
art in heaven." Math. 6:9. 

Q. What disposition did he represent God as sus- 
taining towards us? 

A. That of infinite love. 

"God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life." Jno. 3:16. 



CATECHISM. 



65 



Q. What relation did Christ represent us as sus- 
taining to each other? 
A. That of brethren. 

"One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are 
brethren." Math. 23:8. 

O. What, then, did Christ teach us more clearly 
than had ever been taught before? 

A. The fatherhood of God and the universal brother- 
hood of men. 

O. What, then, would seem to constitute the sum 
of our duty? 

A. Love to God, and love to man. 

"We love him, because he first loved us.*' 1 Jno. 4: 
19. "This is the message that ye heard from the begin- 
ning, that we should love one another." 1 Jno. 3:11. 

O. Did Christ clearly reveal to us a future life? 

A. He did. 

He "hath brought life and immortality to light 
through the Gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10. 

Some confused ideas were entertained by ancient 
pagan philosophers of a future life; and the jews, with 
the exception of the sect of the Sadducees, believed in 
the doctrine of a future state; but their ideas on the sub- 
ject were gross and confused. But Christ revealed this 
doctrine clearly, and by his own resurrection afforded a 
demonstration of its truth. "But now is Christ risen 
from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that 
slept." 1 Cor. 15:20. 

Q. Did he teach us that he is the only medium of 
access to the Father? 

A. He did. 

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no man 
cometh unto the Father but by me." Jno. 14:6. 

Christ is the only medium of access to God; he is 
our only advocate with the Father. Prayer is not to be 



66 



CATECHISM. 



offered to the "Virgin," but to God alone, through 
Christ. 

Q. Did he teach that salvation should be proclaimed 
in his name? 
A. Yes. 

"Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to 
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in 
his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem/' 
Luke 24:46-47. 

Q. Did Christ reveal all necessary truth while on 
the earth? 

A. No; not fully. 

He said to his disciples, "I have yet many things to 
say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Jno. 16:12. 

Q. How, then, did he complete the revelation of his 
will to men? 

A. Through his apostles, by the Holy Spirit. 

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will 
guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of him- 
self; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: 
and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify 
me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto 
you." Jno. 16:13-14. "For," says Paul, "I neither re- 
ceived it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the reve- 
lation of Jesus Christ." Gal. 1:12. 

Q. Are the teachings of the inspired apostles, then, 
equal in authority to the personal teachings of Christ? 

A. They are. 

"God also bearing them witness, both with signs and 
wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
acording to his own will." Heb. 2:4. 

"Nothing can be more express than Christ's assertion that 
every future word of instruction should be only his own word 
continued and developed.'— Pope. 



CATECHISM. 



6? 



Q. Was Christ the final prophet? 
A. He was. 

"There is no other revelation, no other messenger from 
God after him. Whatever other teachers arose were simply 
men from his feet, bearing his words and expounding them 
more fully under the influence of the Holy Spirit." — Pope. 

(2). THE PRIEST. 

Q, Did Christ, as Mediator, assume the priestly of- 
fice? 

A. He did. 

'The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, thou art 
a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Psa. 
110:4; Heb. 5:6. 

Q. When did the office of the priesthood originate? 

A. It had its origin in the first age of the world. 

"Cain and Abel performed the public office of it for them- 
selves; and there is no reason to doubt, that it was regularly 
continued from their time through every succeeding period, 
to the coming of Christ."— Die ujht. 

Q. When mankind became distributed into fam- 
ilies, who then exercised this office? 

A. The father of the family exercised it for himself 
and his household. 

Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job evidently per- 
formed the duties of this office in their own families; and 
it is presumed the heads of families generally did so. 

0. When mankind became settled in tribes and na- 
tions, w 7 ho then performed the duties of the priesthood? 

A. The prince or chief ruler. 

"And Melchisedec king of Salem brought forth 
bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high 
God." Gen. 14:18. 

Q. Who ministered in the priest's office after the 
Exodus? 



68 



CATECHISM. 



A. Young men — the first-born. 

"And Moses sent young men of the children of Israel, 
which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offer- 
ings of oxen unto the Lord." Exo. 24:5. 

Q. Who were set apart to the office of the priest- 
hood, instead of the first-born, after the giving of the 
law? 

A. The tribe of Levi. 

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the 
Levites instead of all the first-born among the children 
of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their 
cattle; and the Levites shall be mine." Num. 3:45. 

Q. How were the priests consecrated? 

A. By washing and anointing. 

"And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the 
door of the congregation, and wash them with water. 
And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and 
anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister in 
the priest's office." Exo. 40:12-13. 

Q. What was the principal duty of a priest? 
A. To offer sacrifices for sins. 

"Every high priest taken from among men, is or- 
dained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may 
offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins." Heb. 5:1. 

Q. What other prominent duties pertained to the 
priestly office? 

A. Intercession and benediction. 

The priests interceded for, and blessed the people. 

Q. What was the design of sacrifice? 

A. To make atonement for sin. 

"The design of the priest's ministration is to render the 
object of worship propitious, to avert his wrath from men, and 
to procure their restoration to his favor." — Dick. 

Q. Was sacrifice necessary to this? 
A. It was. 



CATECHISM. 6 9 

"Without the shedding of blood there is no remis- 
sion. " Heb. 9:22. 

O. What did the priests under the law offer in sac- 
rifice to God? 

A. The bodies of slain beasts, whose blood was sprinkled 
upon the altar. 

O. Could these sacrifices really atone for sin? 

A. They could not; they were but types of the true 
sacrifice for sin. 

'Tor it was not possible that the blood of bulls and 
of goats should take away sin." Heb. 10:4. 

O. Were these sacrifices repeated? 

A. Yes. 

They were "offered year by year continually/' Heb. 
10:1. 

O. Was Christ called of God to the office of the 
priesthood? 
A. He was. 

"No man taketh this honor unto himself but he that 
is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified 
not himself to be made an high priest ; but he that said 
unto him, Thou art my Son, to-dav have I begotten 
thee." Heb. 5:4-5. 

Q. Was Christ a priest of the Levitical order? 

A. No; he was not. 

"It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of 
which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priest- 
hood." Heb. 7:14. 

Q. Of what order of priesthood, then, was Christ? 

A. Of the order of Melchisedec. 

"And it is yet far more evident: for that after the 
similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 
who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, 
but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, 



7° 



CATECHISM. 



Thou are a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec." 
Heb. 7:i5-i/. 

Q. What was peculiar in the priesthood of Melchise- 
dec? 

A. He had no predecessor in office, and no successor in 
the priesthood. 

"Without father, without mother, without descent 
[or pedigree], having neither beginning of days, nor 
end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth 
a priest continually/' Heb. 7:3. So Christ "because he 
continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood/' 
Heb. 7:24. 

Q. Was Christ properly qualified for the priestly 
office? 

A. He was. 

"For the law maketh men high priests which have 
infirmities; but the word of the oath, which was since 
the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated [or per- 
fected] forevermore." Heb. 7:28. 

Q. Was Christ holy? 

A. He was. 

"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, 
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made 
higher than the heavens." Heb. 7:26. 

Q. Did he appear in our nature, and as our repre- 
sentative? 

A. He did. 

"For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; 
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore 
in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his 
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high 
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconcilia- 
tion for the sins of the people. For in that he himself 
suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that 
are tempted." Heb. 2:16-18. 



CATECHISM. 



7* 



Q. Was Christ properly inducted into the priestly 
office? 

A. He was. 

He submitted to the washing of John in the Jordan, 
and coming up out of the water was anointed with the 
Holy Ghost, and thus duly inducted into the priestly 
office, to which he had been appointed, and in 
which he had been confirmed by the oath of the 
Almighty. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were 
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like 
a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from 
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased. Math. 3:16-17. 

Q. Did John at first refuse to baptize Christ? 
A. He did. 

"But John forbad him." Math. 3:14. 
O. Why did he forbid him? 
A. Because he felt unworthy to baptize him. 
"I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou 
to me?" Math. 3:14. 

Q. What answer did Jesus give? 

A. He said, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh 
us to fulfill all righteousness." Math. 3:14. 

Q. Did Christ refer to his initiation into his priestly 
office? 

A. Yes. 

"Our Lord represented the high-priest, and was to be the 
high-priest over the house of God:— now, as the high priest 
was initiated into his office by washing and anointing, so 
must Christ: and hence he was baptized, washed, and anointed 
by the Holy Ghost. Thus he fulfilled the righteous ordinance 
of his initiation into the office of high priest, and thus was 
prepared to make an atonement for the sins of mankind."— 
Dr. Adam, Clarice. 



7* 



CATECHISM. 



O. Did Christ, being duly inducted into the priestly- 
office, faithfully perform its duties? 
A. He did. 

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly 
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our pro- 
fession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him that ap- 
pointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house." 
Heb. 3:1-2. 

Q. In what did the sacrifice which Christ offered to 
God differ from those offered by the priests under the 
law? 

A. The priests tinder the law offered slain beasts in sac- 
rifice, but Christ, "through the eternal Spirit, offered himself 
without spot to God/' Heb. 9:14. 

"But now once in the end of the world hath he ap- 
peared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. 
9:26. 

Q. Did Christ die as a martyr for the truth, as any 
other martyr dies? 

A. No; he died in our stead, to make an atonement for 
our sins. 

"For Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for 
the unjust, that he might bring us to God." 1 Pet. 3:18. 
"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor- 
rows: * * * He was wounded for our transgressions, he 
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our 
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." 
Isa. 53:4-5. "Who his own self bare our sins in his 
own body on the tree." 1 Pet. 2:24. 

Q. What kind of a satisfaction did Christ render to 
God in our behalf? 

A. Such a satisfaction as enables God, as the moral 
Governor of the universe, to be just, and yet extend mercy 
and salvation to penitent transgressors, who repent and be- 
lieve in Jesus. 



CATECHISM. 



73 



"Being justified freely by his grace through the re- 
demption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set 
forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to 
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that 
are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I 
say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, 
and the justiner of him that believeth in Jesus. " Rom. 
3:24-26. 

"From the earliest ages Christians have believed that his 
death was an atonement for sin, a sacrifice offered to God to 
satisfy his justice, and avert his wrath from the guilty; that it 
was the means of reconciling us to our offended Creator, the 
procuring cause of pardon and eternal life. In this view of 
it, all the great bodies into which professed Christians are di- 
vided are agreed."— Dick. 

O. Are we saved, then, through the atoning blood 
of Christ? 

A. We are. 

"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
all sin." 1 Jno. 1 \J. "In whom we have redemption 
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to 
the riches of his grace/' Eph. 1 7. "But now in Christ 
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by 
the blood of Christ." Eph. 2:13. "Ye were not redeemed 
with corruptible things * * * but with the precious 
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and with- 
out spot." 1 Pet. 1 118-19. 

O. Did Christ die for all men? 

A. He did. 

He "gave himself a ransom for all." 1 Tim. 2:6. 
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the 
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and 
honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death 
for every man." Heb. 2:9. 

"If the atonement of Christ consisted in making such 
amends for the disobedience of man as should place the law, 
government, and character of God in such a light, that he could 
forgive sinners of the human race, without any inconsistency; 



74 



CATECHISM. 



then these amends, or this atonement, were all absolutely 
necessary, in order to render such forgiveness proper, or con- 
sistent with the law and character of God, in a single instance. 
The forgiveness of one sinner, without these amends, would 
be just as much a contradiction to the declaration of the law, 
as the forgiveness of a million. If, then, the amends, actually 
made, were such, that God could consistently forgive one sin- 
ner, he might with equal consistency, and propriety, forgive 
any number, unless prevented by some other reason. The 
atonement, in other words, which was necessary for a world, 
was equally necessary, and in just the same manner, and de- 
gree, for an individual sinner."— Dicight. 

O. If Christ died for all men, will all men be saved? 

A. No; only those who accept salvation on the terms 
proposed in the Gospel It men will cling to their sins and 
reject salvation, they will be lost. 

"Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." 
Jno. 5:40. "But unto them that are contentious, and 
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, tribu- 
lation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth 
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile." Rom. 
2:8-9. Salvation is offered to all, but forced upon none. 

O. Did Christ offer more than one sacrifice for sin? 

A. No. 

"For then must he often have suffered since the foun- 
dation of the world: but now once in the end of the world 
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of him- 
self. * * * So Christ was once offered to bear the sins 
of many.'' Heb. 9 '.26-28. 

O. In view of these plain Scripture teachings, how 
must we regard the so-called sacrament of the mass in 
the Romish Church? 

A. As very little, if anything, short of blasphemy. 

Q. Did Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins, 
enter, like the high priest under the law, into the most 
holy place, to appear in the presence of God for us? 

'A. He did. 



CATECHISM. 



75 



"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for 
sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God." Heb* 
10 : 12. 'Tor Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but 
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
for us." Heb. 9:24. 

O. Is Christ, then, our advocate and intercessor 
with the Father? 

A. He is. 

"If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Fa- 
ther, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 Jno. 2:1. "It is Christ 
that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is ever at 
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for 
us." Rom. 8:34. "Wherefore he is able also to save 
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, see- 
ing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Heb. 
7:25. 

O. May we, then, with confidence come to God, 
through Christ our great Fligh Priest in heaven? 

A. Yes; we may come in full assurance of faith. 

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that 
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us 
hold fast our profession. For we have not an high 
priest which cannot e touched with the feelings of our 
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, 
yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find 
grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:14-16. 

O. Is our worship acceptable to God through 
Christ? 

A. It is. 

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual 
house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, 
acceptable to' God by Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 2:5. "He 
hath made us accepted in the beloved." Eph. 1 :6. 



7 6 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Does Christ by his Spirit in our hearts make in- 
tercession for us? 
A. He does. 

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for 
Ave know not what we should pray for as we ought : but 
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groan- 
ings which cannot be uttered." Rom. 8:26. 

Q. Has Christ, like the high priest under the law, 
bestowed his divine benediction on his people? 

A. He has. 

'Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, 
and having received of the Father the promise of the 
Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see 
and hear." Acts 2:33. "Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all 
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
Eph. 1 13. 

"It requires but little acquaintance with Scripture to know 
that the lesson which it everywhere inculcates, is, that man 
by disobedience had fallen under the displeasure of his Maker; 
that to be reconciled to his favor, and restored to the means 
of acceptable obedience, a Redeemer was appointed; and that 
this Redeemer laid down his life to procure for repentant sin- 
ners forgiveness and acceptance. This surrender of life has 
been called by the sacred writers a sacrifice; and the end at- 
tained by it, expiation or atonement."— Magee. 

(3) THE KING. 
Q. Did the prophets speak of Christ as a king? 
A. They did. 

Balaam, under the influence of divine inspiration, de- 
clared, "Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have do- 
minion." Num. 24:19. 

God declared by the mouth of David, "Yet have I set 
my King upon my holy hill of Zion." Psa. 2:6. 

Isaiah declares, "Of the increase of his government 
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of Da- 



CATECHISM. 77 

vid, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish, 
it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for 
ever." Isa. 9:7. 

Jeremiah says, "Behold the days come, saith the 
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, 
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute 
judgment and justice in the earth/- Jer. 23: 5. 

The Prophet Micah says, "But thou, Bethlehem 
Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of 
Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that 
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been 
from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2. 

Zechariah exclaims, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of 
Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King 
cometh unto thee: he is just and having salvation." 
Zech. 9:9. 

Q. Was Christ recognized as a king? 

A. He was recognized as such by the wise men who 
came to Jerusalem. 

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, 
in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise 
men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that 
is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the 
east and are come to worship him." Math. 2: 1-2. 

O. Was he recognized as a king by any of his fol- 
lowers? 

A. He was. 

"Nathaniel answered and saith unto him. Rabbi, thou 
art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.'- Jno. 
1:49. 

Q. Was he ever recognized by the multitude as a 
king? 

A. Yes; in his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. 

"On the next day much people that were come to the 
feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusa- 
lem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet 



CATECHISM. 



him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel, 
that cometh in the name of the Lord." Jno. 12:12-13. 

Q. Did Christ profess to be a king? 

A. He did. 

"Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king, 
then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To 
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the 
world." Jno, 18:37. 

Q. What superscription did Pilate place over Jesus 
on the cross? 

A. His regal title. 

"And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And 
the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews." 
Jno. 19:19. 

Q. Is Christ's kingdom of this world? 

A. It is not. 

"My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom 
were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews." Jno. 18:36. 

O. In what sense, then, is Christ a king? 

A. Considered in his divine nature he is universal Sov- \ 
ereign and Lord of all; but in his mediatorial office and char- 
acter he is King of saints. 

His authority as such is grounded on his sacrificial 
death; and in administering this kingdom he is to be 
considered not simply in his divine character, but as a I 
divine person united to human nature — as the God-man. 

Q. Can we comprehend this mystery? 

A. We cannot. 

"Without controversy great is the mystery of godli- 
ness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the j 
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be- 
lieved on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Tim. 
3:16. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Was the mediatorial kingdom of Christ a gift of 
the Father, as the recompense of Christ's humiliation and 
suffering? 

A. It was. 

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus : who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God; but made himself of no repu- 
tation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion 
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also 
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which 
is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father." Phil. 2:5-11. 

O. Is Christ's authority, then, supreme and univer- 
sal? and was it given, and assumed, for the benefit of the 
church? 

A. It is so declared by the apostle. 

God "hath put all things under his feet, and gave him 
to be the head over all things to the church, which is his 
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1 : 
22-23. 

Every wheel in nature and providence revolves in 
harmony with the great plan of human redemption. 

Q. What is the design of Christ's reign in the church 
and in the hearts of believers? 

A. To re-establish the divine authority over man. 

"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Math. 
6:10. 

O. Who are subjects of Christ's kingdom? 
A. All who believe and obey the truth. 



80 CATECHISM. 

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on 
him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples 
indeed." Jno. 8:31. 

Q. Does Christ, in the exercise of his mediatorial 
authority, defend the church against all its enemies? 

A. He does. 

"Upon this rock I will build my church; and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it.* Math. 16:18. 

Q. Does he bestow upon every true believer all 
needed good? 

A. He does. 

"My God shall supply all your need, according to his 
riches in glory by Jesus Christ." Phil. 4:19. 

VI. CHRIST IN HIS HUMILIATION. 

Q. Did Christ humble himself to become our Sa- 
viour? 

A. He did. 

He "made himself of no reputation, and took upon 
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
of men." Phil. 2:7. "Though he was rich, yet for your 
sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might 
be rich." 2 Cor. 8:9. 

Q. Did he assume our nature in its lowest form? 

A. He did. 

His mother was a woman in the most humble rank 
of society, and her husband was a poor mechanic. 

O. Was he surrounded with wealth and luxury? 

A. No; he was a homeless wanderer. 

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have 
nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.'* 
Math. 8:20. 

O. Was he honored and esteemed of men? 
A. No. 



CATECHISM. 



81 



"He is despised arid rejected of men; a man of sor- 
rows and acquainted with grief ; and we hid as it were 
our faces from him; he is despised, and we esteemed 
him not." Isa. 53:3. "The people answered and said, 
Thou hast a devil. " Jno. 7:20. 

O. Was he in a state of subjection under the law? 

A. He was. 

He was "made of a woman, made under the law." 
Gal. 4:4. 

Q. Was he tempted? 

A. Yes; in every form. 

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilder- 
ness, to be tempted of the devil." Math. 4:1. "And 
when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed 
from him for a season/' Luke 4:13. "This is your hour 
and the power of darkness." Luke 22:53. He "was in all 
points tempted like as we are, vet without sin." Heb. 
4:15- 

O. Did he suffer? 
A. He did. 

"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by 
the things which he suffered." Heb. 5 :8. 

O. How did he suffer? 

A. He suffered in his soul. 

"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." 
Math. 26:38. "And being in an agony he prayed more 
earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of 
blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44. "And 
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, 
J Elio, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is being interpreted, 
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Mark 

Q. Did he also suffer in body? 
A. He did. 

i 



82 



CATECHISM. 



"Pilate therefore took and scourged him." Jno. 19:1. 
And "they platted a crown of thorns and put it on his 
liead * * * and they smote him on the head with a reed, 
and did spit upon him." Mark 15:17-19. "And Jesus 
cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost." Mark 

Q. Did Christ die a painful and a shameful death? 
A. He did. 

Crucifixion was considered the most horrible form of 
death, and was inflicted only on slaves and the vilest of 
criminals. "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." 
Gal. 3:13. 

Q. Was Christ buried like other men? 
A. He was. 

"He made his grave with the wicked, and with the 
rich in his death." Isa. 53:9. "And when Joseph had 
taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and 
laid it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out in the 
rock." Math. 27:59-60. 

Q. During the period of Christ's humiliation were 
there any manifestations of his essential and official dig- 
nity? 

A. Yes; there were. 

The sublime doctrines which he taught, the astonish- 
ing miracles which he performed, the voices from heaven 
which proclaimed him the Son of God, together with the 
prodigies which occurred at his death, afforded, to at- 
tentive and thoughtful minds, glimpses of his hidden 
glory. "These circumstances, however, gave only a par- 
tial relief to the deep gloom which had settled upon him. 
His life, from the manger to the tomb, was a course of 
profound abasement." 

"The humiliation of Christ manifests the greatness of his 
love, the riches of his grace. It was for us, men, and for our 
salvation, that he assumed human nature, and abased him- 
self to the dust of death. He drew a veil over his glory, that 



CATECHISM. 



he might remove our reproach, and raise us to heavenly glory; 
he groaned and died, that we might obtain immortal felicitv." 
—Dick. 

VII. CHRIST IN HIS EXALTATION. 

Q. Did Christ rise from the dead? 
A. Redid. 

''Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains 
of death: because it was not possible that he should be 
holden of it." Acts 2:24. ''But now is Christ risen from 
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." 
1 Cor. 15:20. "He is not here ; for he is risen as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Math. 28:6. 

O. To whom did Christ appear after his resurrec- 
tion? 

A. He appeared first to the two Marys as they re- 
turned from the sepulchcr. 

''And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus 
met them, saying, All hail! And they came and held 
him by the feet, and worshipped him." Math. 28:9. 
Then he appeared to two of the disciples as they jour- 
neyed to Emmaus: ''And it came to pass, that, while 
they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself 
drew near, and went with them." Luke 24:15. Then 
he appeared to the disciples in the absence of Thomas: 
"But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was 
not with them when Jesus came." Jno. 20:24. Then he 
appeared to the disciples, Thomas being with them: 
''And after eight days, again his disciples were within, 
and Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors 
being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be 
unto you." Jno. 20:26. Then he appeared to several of 
the disciples at the sea of Tiberias: "After these things 
Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of 
Tiberias: and on this wise showed he himself. There 
were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didy- 



84 CATECHISM. 

mus, and Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of 
Zebedee, and two other of his disciples." Jno. 21:1-2. 
After this he appeared to five hundred brethren at once : 
i: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also 
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to 
the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose 
again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that 
he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve : after that, he 
was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom 
the greater part remain unto this present, but some are 
fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James; then of 
all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, 
as of one born out of due time." 1 Cor. 15:3-8. 

Q. Did Christ appear on any other occasion after 
his resurrection? 

A. We do not certainly know, but we presume that he 
did, on many occasions during the forty days bezveen his 
resurrection and his ascension. 

O. Is the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
sufficient to warrant our belief in its truth? 

A. It is. 

There is no fact in human history established by 
clearer and stronger evidence than the fact of the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 

O. Did Christ's resurrection from the dead afford 
evidence of his divine character? 

A. It did. 

He was ''declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection 
from the dead." Rom. 1 4. 

" 'Ransack all history,' says an able writer, 'and you can- 
riot find a single event more satisfactorily and clearly proved 
than the resurrection of Christ from the dead.' And says | 
another, a distinguished jurist: 'If human evidence ever has I 
proved, or ever can prove any thing, then the miracles of I 
Christ are beyond the shadow of a doubt.' And yet the mir- J 
acles and resurrection of Christ prove his divinity; and 'as Na- j 



CATECHISM. 



poleon says: 'His divinity once admitted, Christianity appears 
with the precision and clearness of algebra; it has the connec- 
tion and unity of a science.' "—Potts. 

O. By whose power was Christ raised from the dead? 

A. It is sometimes referred to the power of Christ, but 
generally to the power of the Father, or of God. 

"No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of 
myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power 
to take it again." Jno. 10:18. 'Therefore we are buried 
with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even 
so we also should walk in newness of life." Rom. 6:4. 
"And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, 
they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a 
sepulchre. But God raised him from the dead." Acts 
13:29-30. "Him God raised up the third day, and showed 
him openly. Acts 10:40. "Because he hath appointed 
a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness 
by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath 
given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him 
from the dead." Acts 17:31. 

O. Do these statements conflict with each other? 

A. They do not. 

Christ in his divine nature is God, and it was the 
divinity that raised his humanity from the grave, whether 
we refer the act to the Son, or to the Father, or to God, 
without any reference to persons in the Trinity. "I and 
my Father are one." Jno. 10:30. "For what things so- 
ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." Jno. 
5:i9- 

O. FIow T long did Christ remain on the earth after 
his resurrection? 
A. Forty days. 

Q. Did he perform miracles and teach his apostles 
during that time? 

A. It appears that he did. 



86 



CATECHISM. 



"The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of 
all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day 
in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy 
Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom 
he had chosen." Acts 1:1-2, 

Q. After this was he received up into heaven? 
A. He was. 

"And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted 
up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, 
while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and car- 
ried up into heaven." Luke 24:50-51. "And when he 
had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken 
up; and a cloud received him out of their sight." Acts 
1:9. 

Q. Who appeared to the apostles as Christ ascended? 
A. Two angels in human form. 

"And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as 
he went up, two men stood by them in white apparel; 
which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from 
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen him go into heaven." Acts 1 :io-n. 

Q. After the ascension of Christ what did the apos- 
tles do? 

A. They returned to Jerusalem. 

"Then they returned unto Jerusalem from the mount 
called Olivet." Acts 1 :i2. 

Q. Where, and with whom, did they abide? 

A. In an upper room, with the women, and Mary the 
mother of Jesus, and his brethren. 

"And when they were come in, they went up into 
an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and 
John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, 
and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelo- 
tes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued 



CATECHISM. 



87 



in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary 
the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. " Acts 1 : 

O. How long did the apostles and those that were 
with them continue in prayer and supplication? 
A. Ten days, or till the day of Pentecost. 
0. What then occurred? 

A. They received the gift of the Holy Ghost, which 
Christ had promised. 

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they 
weie all with one accord in one place. And suddenly 
there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as 
of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other 
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:1-4. 

Q. Was the descent of the Holy Ghost a demonstra- 
tion that Christ was exalted and enthroned King of saints? 
A. It was. 

"Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, 
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith 
himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my 
right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that: 
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, 
both Lord and Christ." Acts 2:33-36. 

0. Is Christ represented as now occupying a posi- 
tion of great exaltation? 
A. He is. 

k, Xow that he ascended, what is it but that he also 
descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that 
descended is the same also that ascended up far above 



S8 



CATECHISM. 



all heavens, that he might fill all things." Eph. 4:9-10. 
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express 
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word 
of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, 
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." 
Heb. 1 13. 

Q. What does Christ's sitting at the right hand of 

God denote? 

A. It denotes his power and glory, and that his sacri- 
ficial work is finished. 

O. Is his authority supreme? 
A. It is. 

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and 
given him a name that is above every name: that at the 
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, 
and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2 :g-i 1. 

Q. Is his reign to become universal? 

A. It is. 

"Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
possession." Psa. 2:8. 

Q. Is Christ appointed Judge of the world? 

A. He is. 

"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
all judgment unto the Son." Jno. 5:22. "For we shall 
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Rom. 14: 
10. "Because he hath appointed a day, in which he will 
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he 
hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all 
men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 
17:31. 

Q. Is Christ, in his mediatorial offices, exaltation 
and glory, a sufficient Saviour? 



CATECHISM. 



89 



A. He is. 

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the utter- 
most that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
to make intercession for them.'' Heb. 7:25. 

O. What is this system of redeeming mercy some- 
times called? 

A. The covenant of grace, or the new covenant. 

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will 
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with 
the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that 
I made with their fathers in the day when I took them 
by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt : be- 
cause they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded 
them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that 
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith 
the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write 
them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and 
they shall be to me a people. Heb. 8:8-10. 

VI. BENEFITS OF REDEMPTION. 
(1). UNCONDITIONAL BENEFITS. [1]. PER- 
SONAL EXISTENCE. 

O. Had a Redeemer not been provided, would our 
first parents have been cut off when they transgressed 
the divine law? 

A. Yes; they undoubtedly would have been. 

"In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely 
die." Cen. 2:17. 

"Temporal death, or the death of the body, would have 
terminated their earthly existence, and the second death must 
have instantly ensued."— Raymond. 

"Adam having transgressed the law. not only lost a claim 
to life, but became obnoxious to death, which was death in 
lair, or eternal death. And had the law been immediately 
executed, his posterity, then included in his loins, must have 



po 



CATECHISM. 



been extinct, or could have had no existence at all; for, the 
covenant of innocence being- broken, there was no covenant or 
constitution subsisting upon which Adam could have the least 
hope of the continuance of his own life, and consequently could 
have no prospect of any posterity. Thus in Adam all die." — 
Taylor. 

Q. Are all men, then, indebted to the redemption 
in Christ for personal existence? 
A. They are. 

Christ is not only the way, and the truth, but also the 
life, in its broadest and fullest sense. The law declares, 
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." But Christ hath 
delivered us from the curse of the law. Through him we 
enjoy temporal life, and may obtain eternal life. 

[2]. SALVATION MADE POSSIBLE FOR ALL 

MEN. 

O. May we justly infer that the preservation of the 
race from extinction, by the redemption in Christ, indi- 
cates God's willingness to save all men? 

A. We may. 

We can not suppose that God would preserve men 
from extinction merely that he might damn them, any 
more than we can suppose that he created them simply 
for that purpose. 

Q. Has salvation, then, been made possible for all 
men through Christ? 

A. It has. 

"And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for 
ours only, but also for the sins of the w T hole world." i Jno. 
2:2. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than 
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory 
and honor: that he by the grace of God should 
taste death for every man." Heb. 2:9. "As I 
live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in 
the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live." Ezek. 33 :i 1. 



CATECHISM. 



[3]. SALVATION OF INFANTS AND OTHER 
IRRESPONSIBLE PERSONS. 

O. Has Christ secured salvation for those dying in 
infancy? 

A. He has. 

If Christ has rendered the salvation of all men possible,, 
infants dying before they are capable of knowing and 
believing in Christ, through the atonement of his blood, 
and the sanctification of the Spirit, must be saved. To 
suppose the contrary is to suppose that there is a class 
of persons for whose salvation no provision has been 
made. 

"The guilt of original sin is covered by the atonement, and 
it is not imputed to any of the offspring of Adam until its 
remedy is willfully rejected. Hence all who die in infancy are 
saved through Christ, the second Adam, from all the penal 
consequences of the sin of the first Adam." — Binnaj. 

Q. Will all men who have not heard of Christ be 
condemned for not believing in him? 

A. We cannot so think. 

"How shall they believe in him of whom they have 
not heard?'' Rom. 10:14. 

O. How then shall they be judged? 

A. According to the opportunities God has given them. 

God holds men accountable for what they have and 
not for what they have not. "For there is no respect of 
persons with God. For as many as have sinned without 
law shall perish without law; and as many as have sinned 
in the law shall be judged by the law, (for not the hearers 
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law 
shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not 
the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, 
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 
which show the work of the law written in their hearts, 
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts 



9 2 



CATECHISM. 



the mean while accusing them or else excusing one 
another) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel." Rom. 
2:11-16. 

Q. Is the Holy Spirit in any measure given to all 
men? 

A. We may safely assume that he is. 

It is said of Christ that he "was the true Light, which 
lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Jno. 
1 :g. The Spirit of Christ that inspired the prophets, can, 
and no doubt does, to some extent at least, enlighten 
and quicken the natural conscience of all men. 

"There is a moral influence which all men experience. The 
Spirit does thus operate on every human spirit. He does this 
by antagonizing the opposition by sin and Satan so that the 
voice of conscience may be heard. As he is sent forth by 
the Father to do this, his gracious influences are called 'the 
drawings of the Father.' As they go before all efforts of 
men to secure their salvation and do the will of God, they 
are sometimes characterized as 'preventing grace.' " — Summers. 

[4]. SOURCE OF SALVATION IN GOD. 

O. What is the moving cause of our redemption? 
A. The love of God. 

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, 
because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the 
world, that we might live through him." 1 Jno. 4:9. 

O. What is the procuring cause of our redemption? 

A. The death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to 
make an atonement for oar sins. 

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew 
no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God 
in him." 2 Cor. 5:21. 

"All the attributes of the divine nature are against the 
sinner, and they all have to be satisfied in the way in which 
pardon is offered to him— and so God was in Christ reconcil- 
ing the world unto himself, by showing himself ready to for- 



CATECHISM. 



93 



give the sinner on the ground of the satisfaction made by the 
death of his Son, and on the condition of the sinner"s peni- 
tent acceptance of the atonement or reconciliation."— Sum- 
mers. 

Q. Who is the efficient agent in the work of our 
salvation? 

A. The Holy Spirit. 

"And when he is come he will reprove the world of 
sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment." Jno. 16: 
8. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
can not enter into the kingdom of God." Jno. 3:5. ''But 
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, breth- 
ren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the be- 
ginning chosen you to salvation through sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. 2:13. 

(2). CONDITIONAL BENEFITS. 
[1]. JUSTIFICATION. 
Q. What is justification? 

A. Justification, in the New Testament sense, is the 
sovereign act of God in pardoning the penitent, believing 
sinner, and recognizing him as a just or righteous person, 
for Christ's sake. 

"The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, 
the forgiveness of sin. It is that act of God the Father, where- 
by, for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of his 
Son, he 'showeth forth his righteousness (or mercy) by the 
remission of the sins that are past."— Wesley. 

"Justification is not the imputation of Christ's righteous- 
ness to us, though this idea has obtained vide credence. It 
is a preposterous notion that, when justified, Christ's personal 
righteousness is somehow turned over to our account, and 
becomes our own just as if we had lived it ourselves. It is 
not only unscriptural, but absurd. If it is said that the benefit 
of Christ's righteousness becomes ours through justification, 
we grant it. Faith is counted to us for righteousness, but 
the righteousness of Christ itself is transferred to no man." — 
Potts. 



94 



CATECHISM. 



[2]. FAITH. 

Q. What is the great condition of salvation? 

A. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

'Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by 
faith without the deeds of the law.'' Rom. 3 128. 'There- 
fore being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. "Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 
16:31. 

Q. What is faith? 

A. Faith, in its lowest sense, is an intellectual belief of 
the truth. 

This is essential to a man's salvation, but is not suf- 
ficient to save him. He that does not give an intellectual 
assent to the truth of the Gospel will never comply with 
its requirements in order to be saved. 

O. What, then, is saving faith? 

A. In addition to an intellectual belief of the truth of the 
gospel, it is the hearty acceptance of Christ, with full con- 
fidence and trust in him as our Saviour. 

"It is a sure trust and confidence that God both hath and 
will forgive our sins, that he hath accepted us again into his 
favor, for the merits of Christ's death and passion." — Wesley. 
"Faith is a personal act of the penitent sinner, under the in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit, who reveals the atonement to the 
mind, infuses desire into the heart, and thus persuades the 
will to embrace the Saviour." — Pope. 

Q. Is faith the gift of God? 

A. So far as the power to believe is concerned, it is; but 
so far as the act of believing is concerned, it is not. 

"We may have the power to believe to the saving of the 
soul, and yet not exercise that power, and so continue in dark- 
ness and condemnation: for although faith be the gift of God, 
it is only so as to the grace of faith or power to believe; but 
the act of faith, or believing, is the act of the soul, under the 
aid of that power or grace; for, although to believe without 



CATECHISM. 



95 



the power is as 'impossible as to make a world,' yet, when we 
have that power, we may believe and be saved. God can no 
more believe for ns, than he can repent for us."— Dr. Adam 
Clarke. 

Q. How can we reconcile the statement of St. Paul, 
that a man is justified by faith without works, and that 
of St. James, that "by works a man is justified, and not 
by faith only?" 

A. St. Paul is speaking of the single act of faith which, 
without works, brings a man into a justified state; St. James 
is speaking of good works, as the fruit of faith, and zvhich 
are necessary to enable us to continue in a justified state. 
Both statements, in the sense in which they were intended, 
are true; and they do not conflict with each other. 

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh 
away." jno. 15:2. 

"The scope of the apostle [James] is to show, that it is 
not sufficient for a Christian to boast of the remission of 
his sins, which indeed is obtained by faith only, but yet a liv- 
ing faith in Christ; but that besides, he ought to labor after 
holiness, that, being justified by faith only, that is, acquitted 
from the sins he had been guilty of, on account of Christ's 
satisfaction apprehended by faith, he may likewise be justi- 
fied by his works, that is, declared to be truly regenerated, 
believing, and holy." — Witsius. 

[3]. REPEXTAXCE. 
O. What is repentance? 

A. Repentance is a godly sorrow for sin, with humble 
confession, and turning from sin to God. 

"Repentance is a divinely-wrought conviction of sin, the 
result of the Holy Spirit's application of the condemning law 
to the conscience or heart. It approves itself in contrition, 
which distinguishes it from the mere knowledge of sin; in 
submission to the judicial sentence, which is the essence of 
true confession; and in sincere effort to amend, which de- 
sires to make reparation to the dishonored law." — Pope. 

O. Does repentance precede saving faith? 
-A. It does. 



9 6 



CATECHISM. 



While faith, in the sense of assent to the truth, pre- 
cedes repentance, in the sense of confiding trust in Christ, 
it follows it. "Repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 
1:15. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted." Acts 
3^9- 

Q. Does saving faith, then, necessarily presuppose 
repentance? 
A. It does. 

There can be no saving faith without true repentance. 
"Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, re- 
pentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
Christ." Acts 20:21. 

Q. Is repentance the gift of God? 

A. So far as the illumination of the mind and the con- 
viction of the conscience of guilt is concerned, it is. 

"Then hath God also granted to the Gentiles repent- 
ance unto life." Acts 11:18. "Him hath God exalted 
with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to 
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts 

O. While the enlightening and convicting influence 
of the Spirit are the gift of God and essential to true re- 
pentance, do they of themselves constitute repentance? 

A. They do not. 

A man may be. truly enlightened and convicted of 
sin, and yet not repent. These gracious influences may 
be resisted. "Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as 
your fathers did, so do ye." Acts 7:51. 

O. What elements in true repentance involve our 
concurrence? 

A. Contrition, confession, and reformation. 

"Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn 
unto the Lord your God." Joel 2:13. "If we confess 
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." 
1 "[no. 1 19. "Wherefore turn yourselves and live." Ezek. 
18:32. 



CATECHISM. 



97 



O. Are the two elements, the divine and the human, 
combined in true repentance? 
A. They are. 

As in every other saving work, God works in us, and 
we work with God. ''Work out your own salvation with 
fear and trembling: for it is God that worketh in you 
both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:12-13. 

[4]. REGENERATION. 
Q. What is regeneration? 

A. Regeneration is that great change wrought by the 
Holy Spirit in a believer's heart, by which he is quickened 
into a new spiritual life, and the love of sin is taken away, 
and the love of God is implanted within him. 

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in tres- 
passes and sins." Eph. 2:1. "And the Lord thy God will 
circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, that thou mayest live." Deut. 30:6. "A new 
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put 
within you." Ezek. 36:26. "Create in me a clean heart, 
O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Psa. 51 :io. 
"And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God 
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is 
given unto us." Rom. 5 15. "Not by works of righteous- 
ness that we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saves us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost." Titus 3 \$. 

"Regeneration is that mighty change in man, wrought by 
the Holy Spirit, in which the dominion of sin over him in his 
natural state, and which he struggles against in his penitent 
state, is broken and abolished, so that, with full choice of 
will and energy of affection he serves God freely, and runs 
in the way of his commandments." — Watson. "In regenera- 
tion, the very same thing is done by the Spirit of God for 
the soul, which was done for Adam by the sajne Divine Agent 
in his creation. The soul of Adam was created with a relish 



CATECHISM. 



for spiritual objects. The soul of every man who becomes a 
Christian, is renewed by the communication of the same rel- 
ish."— Dicight. 

Q. Is it a mysterious though real change? 

A. It is. 

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit." Jno. 3:8. 

O. To what is this great spiritual change compared? 

A. To a new birth; to a new creation; to a quickening 
from the dead; to a coming out of darkness into light, etc. 

'That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I 
said unto thee, Ye must be born again." Jno. 3:6-7. 
"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: 
old things are passed away; behold all things are become 
new." 2 Cor. 5:17. "And you hath he quickened, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. 2:1. "For ye 
were sometimes darkness, but now are ve light in the 
Lord," Eph. 5:8. 

Q. What is really effected by this great change, thus 
variously represented? 

A. A restoration of the soul to the divine image. 

"And have put on the new man, which is renewed 
in knowledge after the image of him that created him," 
Col. 3:10. "But we all, with open face beholding as in 
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same 
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of God." 
2 Cor. 3:18. "And that ye put on the new man, which 
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." 
Eph. 4:24. 

Q. By what agency is this great change effected? 

A. By divine agency. 

"The Persons of the sacred Trinity are severally agents. 1 
It is said of the Father, 'Of his own will begat he us by the 



CATECHISM. 



99 



word of truth' Jas. 1: 18. * * * 'The Son quickeneth whom he 
will' Jno. 5: 21. * * * But the Holy Spirit is the specific agent; 
as the Administrator of redemption he is 'a quickening Spirit.' " 
—Pope. 

O. Is this great change instantaneous? 
A. It is. 

"The phraseology, by which it is denoted in the Scriptures, 
strongly indicates that this is its nature. It is exhibited under 
the expressions, Being born again; being created anew; hav- 
ing a new heart and a right spirit created within us; turning 
to God; turning from darkness to light; and others of a like 
nature. All these expressions originally denote events in- 
stantaneously existing; and in their figurative application in- 
dicate the instantaneousness of the fact to which it is ap- 
plied."— Dicight. 

O. What is the difference between justification and 
regeneration, or the new birth? 

A. Justification is a work that God does for us, in par- 
doning our sins and changing our relation to him; regenera- 
tion is a zi'ork that God does in us, in renewing our nature 
and changing our moral state and character. The former 
takes away the guilt of sin, and the latter the love of, and the 
inclination to, sin. 

' Justification implies only a relative, the new birth a real, 
change. God in justifying us does something for us; in beget- 
ting us again, he does the work in us. The former changes 
our outward relation to God, so that of enemies we become 
children: by the latter our inmost souls are changed, so that 
of sinners we become saints. The one restores us to the 
favor, the other to the image of God." — Wesley. 

O. Is the new birth necessary to our salvation? 

A. It is. 

"Except a man be born again, he can not see the king- 
dom of God." jno. 3 13. 

Q. Why is this? 

A. Because we are naturally depraved creatures, and 
"far gone from original righteousness " God is infinitely 
pure and holy; and unless we are transformed by his Spirit, 



IOO 



CATECHISM. 



and restored to the divine image, we cannot enjoy his presence 
and glory. 

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for 
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
So then they that are in the flesh can not please God." 
Rom. 8:7-8. 

"Let no one deceive you. They who are carnal cannot 
do the things that are spiritual; nor can they that are spiritual 
do the things that are carnal. Faith cannot do the works of 
unbelief, nor can unbelief do the works of faith. The works 
which ye do in the flesh are spiritual, because ye work all 
your works in Jesus Christ."— Ign a tins. 

The regenerate man cannot practice sin, because in 
him is the element of holiness which is incompatible with 
sin. 

The necessity of this great change can not be too 
earnestly and persistently insisted upon. Good desires, 
good resolutions, a moral life, and uniting with the 
church, so far as the salvation of the soul is concerned, 
amount to nothing, unless a man is truly converted — 
born again — renewed in the spirit of his mind, and con- 
formed to the divine image. "Ye must be born again." 

O. What evidence is afforded of the reality of this 

great change? 

A. The fruit of the Spirit. 

"By their fruits ye shall know them." Math. 7:20. 
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffer- 
ing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance/' 
Gal. 5:22-23. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his." Rom. 8:9. 

[5]. ADOPTION. 

O. What great blessing is connected with justifica- 
tion and regeneration? 

A. That of adoption or sonship. 



CATECHISM, 



101 



"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ 
Jesus." Gal. 3:26. '"Wherefore thou art no more a ser- 
vant, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir of God through 
Christ." Gal. 4:7. 

O. What evidence have we of this fact? 

A. The witness of the Spirit. 

"Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Gal. 
4:6. "For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage 
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, 
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; 
and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs 
with Christ." Rom. 8:15-17. 

[6]. SANCTIFICATION. 
O. What is sanctification? 

A. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in puri- 
fying our hearts, and developing in us, when we fully believe 
in Christ, and entirely consecrate ourselves to his service, cdl 
the graces of the Spirit. 

"When we say that those who are justified are sanctified, 
our meaning is, that they are made holy, not merely by con- 
secration to the service of God, but by the infusion of his 
grare, which purifies them from the pollution of sin, and re- 
news them in the whole man after the image of God." — Dick. 
"Sanctification, negatively considered, is purification from sin; 
considered positively, it is the consecration of love to God; 
both being the direct and sole work of the Holy Ghost, and 
their unity holiness." — Pope. 

O. When does the work of sanctification begin in 
the heart? 

A. When the sinner is justified and regenerated by the 
Holy Spirit. 

"And at the same time we are justified, yea, in that very 
moment, sanctification begins. In that instant we are born 
again, born from above, born of the Spirit. There is a real as 
well as a relative change." — Wesley. 



102 



CATECHISM. 



Q. What is the difference between justification and 
sanctification? 

A. Justification changes our relation to God; sanctifica- 
tion conforms us to the image and will of God. 

"In a word, the one changes our state, translating us from 
a state of condemnation into a state of acceptance; the other 
changes our nature, or makes those holy who were unholy." — 
Dick. 

O. Wherein does sanctification differ from regenera- 
tion? 

A. In degree rather than in nature. 

"The difference between sanctification and regeneration is 
not a difference in nature or kind, like the difference between 
it and justification. They are, if I may speak so, parts of one 
whole. In regeneration there is the infusion of spiritual life 
into the soul, in which life all the graces or all the holy tem- 
pers of the Christian are virtually included. In sanctification 
those graces are unfolded and matured, and exert their na- 
tive influence on the conduct." — Dick. 

O. Is the renewal of our nature, then, the beginning, 
and a part, of our sanctification? 

A. Considered negatively, as purification from sin, it is. 

Q. What does sanctification include in addition to 
this? 

A. The unreserved consecration of ourselves, in loving 
devotion, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to God. 

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, 
Acceptable, unto God, which is your reasonable service." 
Rom. 12:1. 

O. Is it our privilege to be entirely sanctified in this 
life? 

A. It is. 

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and 
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 1 Thess. 5:23. 



CATECHISM. 



From this passage it is evident that it is our privilege 
to be sanctified wholly in this life, for the apostle prays 
for our complete preservation after our sanctification unto 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

[7]. CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

Q. Are we exhorted in the New Testament to be 
perfect, as Christians? 
A. We are. 

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is 
in heaven is perfect." Math. 5:48. 'Therefore leaving the 
principles of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on to per- 
fection." Heb. 6:1. "Having therefore these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of 
the Lord." 2 Cor. 7:1. "Now the God of peace, that 
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great 
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlast- 
ing covenant, make you perfect in every good work to 
do his will." Heb. 13:20-21. 

O. What is the nature of this perfection? 

A. It is not the perfection of knowledge, nor the per- 
fection of obedience, but the perfection of love. 

"God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth 
in God, and God in him." 1 Jno. 4:16. "Jesus saitli 
unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. 
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
the law and the prophets." Math. 22:37-40. 

This is the law of the Christian life, and he that keeps 
this law is a perfect Christian. 

"It is nothing higher and nothing lower than this,— the 
pure love of God and man; the loving God with all our heart 
and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves. It is love governing 



104 



CATECHISM. 



the heart and life, running through all our tempers, words and 
actions." — Wesley. 

Q. Does this love exclude all infirmities, ignorance, 
and mistakes? 

A. It does not. The best of men are liable to mistakes. 

(1) "Every one may mistake as long- as he lives. (2) A 
mistake in opinion may occasion a mistake in practice. (3) 
Every such mistake is a transgression of the perfect law. 
Therefore, (4) every such mistake, were it not for the blood 
of atonement, would expose to eternal damnation. (5) It fol- 
lows, that the most perfect have continual need of the merits 
of Christ, even for actual transgressions, and may say for 
themselves, as well as for their brethren, 'Forgive us our tres- 
passes.' "—Wesley. 

Q. Are these unavoidable mistakes of human ignor- 
ance and infirmity, which, under a rigid legal system 
would be considered transgressions, imputed to the true 
believer who obeys the law of love? 

A. They are not, in such a sense as to incur condemna- 
tion. 

'There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, 
bttt after the Spirit." Rom. 8:i. 

So far as our acceptance with God is concerned, "we 
are not under law, but under grace," and God knowing 
the integrity of our hearts, and also our ignorance and 
weakness, for Christ's sake does not impute these mis- 
takes to us as sins, but graciously passes them by. 

"Not only sin, properly so called, that is a voluntary trans- 
gression of a known law, but sin, improperly so called, that is, 
an involuntary transgression of a divine law, known or un- 
known, neeas the atoning blood. I believe there is no such 
perfection in this life as excludes these involuntary trans- 
gressions which I apprehend to be naturally consequent on 
the ignorance and mistakes inseparable from mortality. 
Therefore sinless perfection is a phrase I never use, lest I 
seem to contradict myself. J believe, a person filled with the 
love of God is still liable to these involuntary transgressions. 
Such transgressions you may call sins, if you please: I do 
net." — Wesley. 



CATECHISM. 



O. Is this state of perfect love attained gradually or 
instantaneously? 

A. It may be gradual or instantaneous — generally the 
■former. 

A man who runs in a race is gradually approaching 
the goal from the moment he starts, but there is an in- 
stant in which he reaches it. Whether the race be long 
or short does not change the facts. Wesley says: "It 
need not, therefore, be affirmed over and over, and proved 
by forty texts of Scripture, either that most men are per- 
fected in love at last, that there is a gradual work of God 
in the soul, or that generally speaking, it is a long time, 
even many years, before sin is destroyed. All this we 
know; but we know likewise, that God may, with man's 
good leave, 'cut short' his work, in whatever degree he 
pleases, and do the usual work of many years in a mo- 
ment. He does so in many instances; and yet there is 
a gradual work, both before and after that moment; so 
that one may affirm that the work is gradual, another, it 
is instantaneous, without any manner of contradiction." 

O. Do regeneration, sanctification, and perfect love 
partake of the same nature? 

A. They do. at least in part; and taken together consti- 
tute that work of grace in the heart by which we die unto 
sin and lire unto righteousness. 

The two latter are often spoken of as identical, and 
are the development and fruit of the former. 

O. Is it the duty of Christians to seek this entire 
conformity to the will of God? 

A. It is. 

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye trans- 
formed bv the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove 
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
God." Rom. 12:2. 'Tor this cause I bow my knees 
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, * * * that he 
would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to 



io6 



CATECHISM. 



be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner ] 
man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that 
ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to 
comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and 
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of 
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled 
with all the fulness of God." Eph. 3:14-19. 

Christians should be taught that it is their duty to 
"leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and go on 
to perfection.-' They should be constantly urged to do 
this, and to "press toward the mark for the prize." 

(3). MORAL DUTIES. 

O. Have we a divine code of morals given us in the 
Bibte? 

A. We have. 

O. In what is it contained? 

A. In the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments. 

"I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

"II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven 
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the 
water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself 
to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
children unto the third and fourth generation of them 
that hate me: and showing mercy unto thousands of them 
that love me and keep my commandments. 

"III. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that 
taketh his name in vain. 

"IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; 
six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the 
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it 
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 



CATECHISM. 



10/ 



daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor 
thy catile, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for 
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and 
all that in them is, and rested the seventh day ; wherefore 
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 

"V. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee. 

"VI. Thou shalt not kill. 

"VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

"VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 

"IX! Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbor. 

"X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors house, thou 
shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, 
nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any 
thing that is thy neighbors/' Exo. 20:3-17. 

O. Have we a summary of this moral law given us 
by Christ? 

A. We have. 

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with 
all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself/' Luke 10:27. 

O.. How is this law divided? 

A. Into two tables. 

O. To what does the first table relate? 

A. To our duty to God. 

O. What does this embrace? 

Ans. 1. Love. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
with all thy heart," etc. Luke 10:27. 

2. Fear or reverence. — "Let all the earth fear 
the Lord: let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe 
of him." Psa. 33:8. "God is greatly to be feared in 



io8 



CATECHISM. 



the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of \ 
all them that are round about him." Psa. 89:7. 'Thou 1 
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."| 
Exo. 20:7. 

3. Trust. — "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, I 
and put your trust in the Lord." Psa. 4:5. "Trust in the 
Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own un- 
derstanding." Prov. 3:5. "Trust in the Lord forever; j 
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Isa. 16: 
14. "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." Job 

Love is always trustful. Supreme love, supreme trust. | 
A man who loves the Lord with all his heart, will trust 
him with unwavering confidence. 

4. Obedience. — "If ye love me, keep my command- I 
ments." Jno. 14:15. "He that hath my commandments 
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." Jno. 14:21. 

5. Worship. — "O come, let us worship and bow 
down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Psa. 
96:6. "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; 
fear before him all the earth." Psa. 96:9. "Thou shalt 
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou 
serve." Math. 4:10. 

Q. What does the worship of God include? 

A. j. The reading and expounding of God's zvord. 

"So they read in the book, in the law of God, dis- 3 
tinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to under- 
stand the reading." Neh. 8:8. "And he said unto them, I 
Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." Mark 16:15. 

2. Prayer to God. First, mental prayer. "And she j 
was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and I 
wept sore. * * * And it came to pass, as she continued jj 
praying before the Lord, that Eli marked her mouth, jj 
Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips ( 
moved, but her voice was not heard." 1 Sam. 1 :io-i2-i3. 1 



CATECHISM. 



ioo 



Second, private prayer. "But thou, when thou prayest, 
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, 
pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father 
which seest in secret shall reward thee openly." Math. 6: 
6. Third, family prayer. This, although not enjoined 
in express terms, is implied in the duty of family religion. 
"For I know him, that he will command his children and 
his household after him, and they shall keep the way of 
the Lord." Gen. 18:19. "And, ye fathers, provoke not 
your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord." Eph. 6:4. Fourth, social 
and public prayer. "Again I say unto you, that if two 
of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that 
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 
which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." 
Math. 18:19-20. 

3. Celebration of the praise of God. — "All the earth 
shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall 
sing to thy name." Psa. 66:4. "Let the people praise 
thee, O God, let all the people praise thee." Psa.^^. 
"O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful 
noise unto the Rock of our salvation." Psa. 95:1. 

O. To what does the second table of the law relate? 

A. To our duty to our fellow men. 

Q. What does it require? 

A. Love to our neighbor. 

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Luke 10: 

2/. 

O. Whom should we regard as our neighbors? 
A. All men. 

This is illustrated by Christ in the parable of the good 
Samaritan. Luke 10:29-37. 

O. What does loving our neighbor as ourselves pre- 
suppose? 

A. Self-love. 



no 



CATECHISM. 



"No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth 
and cherisheth it." Eph. 5:29. "All that a man hath 
will he give for his life." Job 2 4. 

O. What does this imply? 

A. 1. Self-defense. This is an instinct of our nature, 
implanted within us by our Creator for the most bene- 
volent purpose. Hence, it is properly said, that "self- 
preservation is the first law of nature." 

2. Self-control. "Teaching us that denying all un- 
godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and 
righteously, and godly in this present evil world." Titus 
2:12, 

This implies the proper direction of all our powers, 
and the indulgence of all our passions, appetites, and de- 
sires only in lawful things, and to a law T ful extent. 

O. What is implied in loving our neighbor as our- 
selves? 

A. That we feel and act towards him as zve would have 
him feel and act toward us. 

"Therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do 
to you, do ye even so to them." Math. 7:12. "What 
doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love 
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah. 6:8. 

Love will not withhold from any man his rights; and 
where a man has no rights, mercy will recognize his need. 
Every man has a right to his life, to his property, to 
his reputation, to the respect due to his position, and to a 
pure character. Hence murder, theft, covetousness, 
falsehood, and lewdness are forbidden, and respect to 
parents and superiors is enjoined. 

Q. What will love prevent us from doing to our 
neighbor? 

A. An injury of any kind, by thought, word, or deed. 
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbor." Rom. 13:10. 



CA TECHISM. 



in 



Q. What will it influence us to do for him? 

A. Every needed good within our power, and consistent 
with our condition and circumstances. 

"As we have therefore opportunity let us do good 
unto all men.'' Gal. 6:10. 

Love to God, and love to man — which naturally grows 
out of it — is the true principle of all obedience; and the 
various duties we perform are but the development of 
this principle — the fruit that it bears. "Love is the ful- 
filling of the law." Rom. 13:10. 

IV. 

DIVINE INSTITUTIONS. 

MARRIAGE. 

Q. Is marriage of divine origin and authority? 
A. It is. 

"And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man 
should be alone; I will make a helpmeet for him." Gen. 
2:18. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his 
mother, and cleave unto his wife: and, they shall be one 
flesh.'' Gen. 2:24. "Have ye not read, that he which 
made them in the beginning made them male and female, 
and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and 
mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall 
be one flesh. * * * What therefore God hath joined 
together, let no man put asunder." Math. 19:4-6. 

O. What commandment, among others, did God 
give to the first human pair? 

A. He commanded them to "be fruitful, and multiply, 
and replenish the earth/' Gen. 1:28. 

O. On what was this commandment based? 

A. On the nature which he had given them. 

"Male and female created he them." Gen. 1 \2J. 



112 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Is marriage, then, in harmony with the law of 
our nature and the will of God? 
A. It is. 

God made men and women for intimate, personal as- 
sociation with each other, in order to their own comfort, 
that the race might be propagated, and the divine purpose 
accomplished. 

O. What restriction is placed upon marriage? 

A. It is restricted to two persons of diffent sexes. 

"A man shall leave father and mother, and cleave to 
his wife" — not wives — ''and they twain" — they two, and 
no more — "shall be one flesh." Math. 19:5. 

Q. On what ground should this relation be entered 
into? 

A. On the ground of mutual affection, regulated by 
prudence. 

"Let every one of you in particular so love his wife 
even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her 
husband." Eph. 5:33. 

Q. Is the marriage union perpetual? 

A. It is; it is entered into by both parties for life; and 
nothing but death, or infidelity to the marriage vow, can 
dissolve it. 

O. How is this relation entered into? 

A. With the most solemn vow of fidelity, and an appeal 
to God, and is of the nature of the most solemn oath. 

Q. Is the violation of the marriage covenant con- 
demned and forbidden? 

A. It is, in the most positive and solemn manner. 

God proclaimed from Sinai, "Thou shalt not commit 
adultery." Exo. 20:14; Eph. 5:5. 

Q. Is the marriage relation an honorable relation? 

A. It is. 

"Marriage is honorable in all; and the bed undefiled." 
Heb. 13:4. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Is it proper for ministers of the Gospel to marry? 
A. It is, if they so desire. 

The priests under the law were permitted to marry; 
several of the apostles of Christ were married men; and 
Paul claimed the right to marry. "Have Ave not power to 
lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and 
as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" i Cor. 9:5. 

Q. What did the apostle declare to be one of the 
signs of the great apostacy of the last times? 

A. Forbidding to marry. 

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to 
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in 
hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared with a hot 
iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain 
from meats, which God hath created to be received with 
thanksgiving," etc. 1 Tim 4:1-3. 

Q. Is it the design of God that the race should be 
propagated only in wedlock? 
A. It is. 

Promiscuous concubinage is as much prohibited in 
the seventh commandment as the violation of the mar- 
riage vow? 

O. Is the family relation founded in marriage? 
A. Yes. 1 * 

"God setteth the solitary in families." Psa. 68:6. 
Q. What are some of the advantages of this rela- 
tion? 

A. It promotes the comfort of the married pair; in the 
exercise of parental authority it lays the foundation of all 
government ; it secures proper care, protection, and instruc- 
tion for children; it cultivates and develops natural affec- 
tion; and promotes industry and economy. 

Q. Should marriage be encouraged? 

A. It should. 



ii4 CATECHISM. 

When it is entered into from proper motives, and its 
obligations faithfully observed, it protects the individual, 
and is one of the best safeguards of society. 

Q. In entering into the married relation is it right 
for "believers to intermarry with unbelievers? 

A. It is neither wise nor safe to do so. 

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: 
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- 
ness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" 
2 Cor. 6:14. 

Q. May two persons who have been united in holy 
wedlock, without the violation of the marriage vow on 
the part of either, be scripturally divorced? 

A. They may not. 

"And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away 
his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against 
her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be 
married to another, she committeth adultery." Mark 
10:11-12. 

Here there is no reference made to the cause of sep- 
aration. But in Matthew we have a fuller statement: 

"And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his 
wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, 
committeth adultery; and whoso marrieth her which is J 
put away doth commit adultery." Math. 19:9. 

From this it appears that infidelity to the marriage 
vow is the only scriptural cause for divorce; and that a 
man may put away his wife, if she has violated her mar- 
riage vow, and innocently be married to another; but the j 
guilty party cannot re-marry without committing adul- 
tery. Here we see that the innocent party may be pro- 
tected, while the guilty party shall be punished. 

The frequency of divorce in this country, and for a 
great number of causes, is one of the crying evils of the 
times. It is doing as much. perhaps as any other cause,; 



CATECHISM. 



to undermine and overthrow all virtuous society. This 
evil is becoming alarming. If parties knew that they 
could not obtain divorce for any trifling cause, they would 
endeavor to accommodate themselves more fully to each 
other, and to avoid every cause of estrangement. It 
would also perhaps lead to greater caution in the forma- 
tion of matrimonial alliances, and prevent many heart- 
aches which result from reckless imprudence in entenr.g 
into the most important and sacred relation in life. 

2. THE SABBATH. 

O. What does the word ''Sabbath" mean? 

A. It means rest — a season or day of rest. 

"There remaineth therefore a rest [or keeping of a 
Sabbath] to the people of God.'' Heb. 4:9. 

O. By whom, and when, was the Sabbath instituted? 

A. By the great Creator at the end of the creative week. 

"And on the seventh day God ended his work which 
he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and 
sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his 
work which God created and made/' Gen. 2:2-3. 

O. Is there any reference in the Bible to the division, 
or observance, of time by sevens before the giving of the 
law? 

A. Yes; in the case of Noah. 

"And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters 
of the flood were upon the earth." Gen. 7:10. "And he 
stayed yet other seven days; and again sent forth the dove 
out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the even- 
ing: and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: 
so Xoah knew that the waters were abated from off the 
earth/' Gen. 8:10-12. 

O. Was the division of time into weeks of seven days 
an ancient custom among pagan nations? 
A. It was. 



116 CATECHISM. 

"Mr. Selden indeed has taken great pains to shew, that 
the seventh day mentioned by pagan writers is to be un- 
derstood of the seventh day of the month; and that there is 
no proof of the religious observance of the seventh day of 
the week among the Gentiles. Yet it is plain from that very 
learned writer's own accounts, that there was a particular 
regard paid by them to the number seven, and that the num- 
bering of days by weeks, consisting of seven days, was of great 
antiquity, especially among the eastern nations. And I think 
a more probable account cannot be given of it, than that it 
was originally derived from a tradition of the history of the 
creation, and of a seventh day set apart, by divine appoint- 
ment, in commemoration of it: though, like other ancient tra- 
ditions, it came in process of time to be neglected, and the 
true original design of it lost and forgotten."— Leland. 

Q. Is there any mention of the Sabbath before the 
giving of the law? 

A. Yes; it is spoken of in connection with the gather- 
ing of manna when it was first given to the Israelites. 

"And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gath- 
ered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and 
all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 
And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath 
said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the 
Lord: bake ye that which ye will bake to-day, and seethe 
ye that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay 
up for you to be kept until the morning." Exo. 16:22-23. 

O. Does this show that the Israelites had a knowl- 
edge of the Sabbath before the elders informed Moses 
that they had gathered a double portion of manna on the 
sixth day? 

A. It certainly does. 

If the children of Israel had not known that the sev- j 
enth day was the Sabbath, why did they gather a double j 
portion on the sixth day? They evidently knew of the ! 
Sabbath, and assuming that it would be improper to j 
gather manna on that day they acted as they did, and the i 
elders appealed to Moses to ascertain if their view was 
correct. 



CATECHISM. 



11/ 



O. Does the answer of Moses indicate that he 
spoke to thern of an institution already known to them, 
and not of something of which they had not before heard? 

A. It does. 

The question submitted to Moses was as to the pro- 
priety of gathering a double portion of manna on the 
sixth day, and Moses told them that that was right, for 
the seventh day, as they well knew, was the Sabbath, 
and on that day there would not be any manna. 

O. Was the Sabbath re-enacted at the giving of the 
law upon Mount Sinai? 
A. It was. 

God wrote this commandment on one of the tables of 
stone: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: but the 
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it 
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy 
daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy 
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in 
six davs the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all 
that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the 
Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Exo. 
20:8-11. 

O. What reason is here assigned for the institution 
of the Sabbath? 

A. The fact that on that day God rested from all his 
works which he had made. 

Q. May we justly suppose that the reason for the 
Sabbath had existed from the beginning, but that it was 
not instituted till now? 

A. We may not. 

We naturally suppose that the Sabbath was instituted 
as soon as the reason for it existed. 

O. Is the Sabbath of perpetual obligation? 
A. It is. 



n8 



CATECHISM. 



If it existed from the beginning, it existed for the race, 
and must be co-existent with the race. But so far as it 
was introduced into the ceremonial law of the Jews, and 
made a sign between God and them in reference to cer- 
tain things in their polity and history, it has, in that spe- 
cial and accommodated sense, passed a\\ f ay with their 
economy, while in its general intent it is still in force. It 
is to the former of these the apostle refers when he says, 
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or 
in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the 
sabbath days." Col. 2:16. 

O. What was the end originally contemplated in 
the institution of the Sabbath? 

A. The commemoration of the divine glory displayed 
in the work of creation; and the promotion of the physical 
and spiritual wellbeing of men. 

Q. Do men need such a day of rest? 
A. They do. 

They need it as a release from physical labor, and as 
an opportunity for spiritual contemplation, improvement, 
and worship. 

"Sunday is a necessity for the retention of man's mind and 
of man's frame in a condition to discharge his duties; and it 
is desirable, as much as possible, to restrain the exercise of 
labor upon Sunday, and to secure to the people the enjoyment 
of the day of rest."— Gladstone. "Of all divine institutions, 
the most divine is that which secures a day of rest for man. 
I hold it to be the most valuable blessing ever conceded to 
man. It is the corner-stone of civilization, and its removal 
might even affect the health of the people."— Disraeli. 

Q. May we distinguish between the Sabbath itself, 
and the day on which it is observed? 
A. We may. 

The Sabbath— the holy rest— is one thing, and the 
day on which it is observed is another. The rest may be 
perpetuated, but the day may, by divine authority", be 
changed. 



CATECHISM. 



up 



"The Sabbath as an institution signifies rest or repose, not 
simply a space of time. We do well to bear this fact in mind. 
The Sabbath is not a day; it is not Sunday or Saturday, or 
any other day; it is holy rest unto the Lord. The day is 
simply a space of time set apart for observing the thing it- 
self, viz: holy rest." — Potts. 

O. Has the day on which the Sabbath is observed 
been changed by divine sanction? 

A. There is but little difference of opinion among Chris- 
tions on this point. The first, instead of the seventh day of 
the week, is, zvt th but few exceptions, now regarded as the 
Christian Sabbath. 

Q. Is there sufficient authority for this change? 

A. It is confidently claimed there is. 

In the change of day, the end or design of the institu- 
tion was not changed, but enlarged so as to embrace the 
work of redemption, or the new creation, as it is some- 
times called. 

"Of all the works of Providence, the work of redemption, 
or the new creation, is incalculably the most important; the 
hinge, on which all the rest turn; the work, towards the ac- 
complishment of which all the rest are directed: in a word,, 
the end of them all. Accordingly St. Paul says, 'Who created 
all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent ,that now unto princi- 
palities, and powers, in heavenly places, might be known, 
by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.' The display of 
the wisdom of God, by the church, in the work of redemption, 
was therefore the intent, or end, for which all things were 
created by Jesus Christ. Without the work of redemption, 
then, the purpose of God in creating all things, and the real 
use of the things themselves, would have been prevented.'' — 
Du; iglit. 

That God should, therefore, change the Sabbath day 
from the seventh to the first day of the week, so as to 
embrace the resurrection of Christ, and the finished work 
of redemption, is nothing more than we might naturally 
expect. 

0. Is there anything in the writings of the prophets, 
or the teachings of Christ foreshadowing such a change? 
A. It is thought there is. 



120 



CATECHISM. 



"For, behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth: 
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
mind. But be ye glad and rejoice in that which I create: 
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people 
a joy." Isa. 65:17-18. 

"In this declaration of the prophet there are two things, 
particularly claiming 1 our attention. The first is, that the new 
creation, or the work of redemption, is of far greater im- 
portance in the eye of God, than the former creation. The 
second is an express prediction, that the former creation shall 
not be remembered by the church, nor come into mind; or, 
in other words, shall not be commemorated. This I under- 
stand, as almost all similar Jewish phrases are to be under- 
stood, in a comparative sense; and suppose the prophet to 
intend, that it shall be far less remembered, and com- 
memorated; as being of less importance," — Dwiglit. 

The transfer of the Sabbath from the seventh to the 
first day of the week, on which Christ rose from the dead, 
and finished the new creation, and on which his love is 
celebrated, appears to be a clear fulfilment of this 
prophecy. 

O. Is there any direct authority for the change? 
A. Yes , there is. 

The example of the apostles, who were infallibly 
guided by the Spirit, in assembling for worship on the 
first day of the week instead of the seventh, is a clear in- 
dication of the divine will in the case. 

"Immediately after the resurrection of Christ, the dis- 
ciples began to assemble on the first day of the week; and 
by meeting repeatedly with them on that day, he gave counte- 
nance to the practice. It was continued after his ascension, 
and the mission of the Spirit to guide them into all truth."— 
Did'. 

The primitive church, following the example of the 
apostles, continued the practice, and it has come down 
to the present time. Ignatius, a companion of the apos- 
tles, says, "Let us no more Sabbatize, but keep the Lord's 
day, on which our Life arose." 



CATECHISM, 



121 



Q. How should we observe the Sabbath? 

A. With self-denial, cheerfulness, and delight. 

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from 
doing thine own pleasure on my holy day; and call the 
Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and 
shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding 
thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words/' etc. 
Isa. 58:13. 

O. From what should we refrain on the Sabbath? 

A. From all worldly employments, except works of 
necessity and mercy; and from all secular thoughts, secular 
conversation, and secular enjoyments. 

"By rest we do not mean inactivity, but cessation from 
all labor put forth to secure our own gratification or reward. 
The farmer should cease to plow and sow. The merchant should 
close his store and sell no goods. The student should cease his 
investigations. All men should stop their regular week-day 
toil, and devote the day to spiritual culture. This is the 
primary object of the Sabbath."— Potts. 

O. What duties should we perform on the Sabbath? 

A. The various private, personal duties of religion, and 
all the ditties of public worship. 

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of 
my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength 
and my Redeemer." Psa. 19:14. 

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into 
the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy 
gates, O Jerusalem." Psa. 122:1-2. 

3. THE CHURCH. 
O. What is a church? 

A. ( A church is a society of believers in Christ." 

Q. Is the word church used in different senses in the 
New Testament? 

A. It is. 



122 



CATECHISM. 



It is sometimes used to denote "the whole company of 
God's elect, those whom he has called to be his people 
under the new dispensation, as he did the Jews under 
the old. ?; This is sometimes called the church universal. 
It is also used to denote a society of believers worshiping 
statedly in any particular place, as the church of Ephesus. 
We also speak of the visible church, including all who pro- 
fess and call themselves Christians, and who are members 
of some visible church organization; and also of the in- 
visible church, embracing all those, and those only, who 
are true believers in Christ. We also mark the difference 
between the church militant and the church triumphant, 
meaning by the former, the church on earth, and by the 
latter, the church triumphant in heaven. 

Q. Does the New Testament ever employ the word 
church to denote the inhabitants of a whole countr> 
united in the same religious profession? 

A . It does not. 

We read of the churches of Judea, the churches of Ga- 
latia, the churches of Macedonia, the churches of Asia, 
but never of the church of Judea, of Galatia, of Mace- 
donia, of Asia. 

O. Is the church, in its true spiritual sense, of divine 
origin? 

A. It is. 

It is "the church of the living God, the pillar and 
ground of the truth.'' i Tim. 3:15. "Upon this rock will 
I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it." Math. 16:18. 

O. Who may properly become members of the 
church? 

A. All who sincerely believe in Christ, and are earnestly 
endeavoring by the assistance of his grace to save their souls. 

O. Are the baptized children of members of the 
church to be regarded as under the watch-care of the 
church ? 



CATECHISM. 



123 



A. They are. 

"For the promise is unto you, and to your children, 
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your 
God shall call." Acts 2:39. 

O. What are the means of grace that God has in- 
stituted in the church? 

A. The reading of his word, the preaching of the Gos- 
pel, the singing of his praise, the supplication of his mercy, 
and the observance of the sacraments. 

Q. Is the reading of the Scriptures in the church a 
proper part of religious worship? 

A. It is. 

The Scriptures were read in the synagogue under 
the law, and in the early churches under the gospel, and 
the practice has been continued unto the present time. 
Christ entered the synagogue in Nazareth: "And there 
was delivered to him the book of the Prophet Isaias. And 
when he had opened the book he found the place where 
it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" etc. Luke 
4:17-18. "I charge you by the Lord Jesus that this 
epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." 1 Thess. 5 127 
"And when this epistle, is read among you, cause that it 
be read also in the church of the Laodiceans ; and that ye 
likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." Col. 4:16. 

Q. Is the preaching of the gospel required in the 
church? 

A. Certainly it is. 

"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature." Mark 16:1 5. "How shall they believe in 
him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they 
hear without a preacher?" Rom. 10:14. "I charge thee 
therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and 
kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of 
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering 
and doctrine." 2 Tim. 4:1-2. "So, as much as in me is. 



124 



CATECHISM. 



I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome 
also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it 
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that be- 
lieveth." Rom. 1:15-16. 

O. Is the singing of God's praise a proper part of 
his worship? 

A. Yes; it is enjoined on as as such. 

"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your 
hearts unto the Lord." Eph. 5:19. 

O. Is prayer a part of religious worship, and is it en- 
joined as a duty? 

A. It is. 

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplication, pray- 
ers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all 
men," etc. 1 Tim. 2:1-3. 1 Cor. 14:14. 

Q. Are the sacraments to be observed in the church? 

A. Yes; this is required. 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost." Math. 28:10. "Take, eat: this is my body, which 
is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After 
the same manner also he took the cup, w T hen he had 
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance 
of me." 1 Cor. 11 :24-25. 

O. What classes of officers are recognized in the 
church? 

A. Tzvo classes; those zvho have the spiritual oversight 
of the church, and those who are charged with its temporal- 
ities. 

Q. What are persons of the former class called? 
A. Bishops, elders, presbyters, and ministers. 
O. Do these different terms denote different offices, 
or orders ? 

A. No; they denote the same office, or order. 



CATECHISM. 



O. What are persons of the latter class called? 

A. Deacons, stewards, and other names according to the 
duties required of them. In different churches the names of 
these officers are sometimes different. 

O. Are ministers called of God to their office and 
work? 

A. They are. 

"No man taketh this honor unto himself but he that 
is called of God, as was Aaron." Heb. 5 4. 

The ministry is not to be chosen merely as a respecta- 
ble profession, affording the means of a genteel liveli- 
hood; but under a sense of solemn obligation to God, and 
a deep conviction that God has called him to that special 
office and work, and that, like the apostle, woe is him if 
he preach not the Gospel. Paul, in his address to the 
elders of the church at Ephesus, exhorted them to take 
heed to themselves, and to all the flock over which the 
Holy Ghost had made them overseers. Acts 20.28. 
God, by his Spirit, had called them to their work. God 
chooses his own ambassadors. 2 Cor. 5:20. 

O. What is the work of a minister of Christ? 

A. To preach the Gospel, administer the sacraments, and 
take the oversight of the church. 

'Teed the flock of God which is among you, taking 
the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not 
for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.'' 1 Pet. 5 :2. 

"He is not appointed to instruct them in the arts and 
sciences, in agriculture and commerce, or in mere morality, 
as it is exhibited independently of religion in the systems of 
philosophers; but to preach the Gospel^ in the most extensive 
sense of the term, to explain its doctrines, to propound its 
promises, to inculcate its precepts, to bring its motives to 
bear upon the consciences and hearts of his hearers." — Dick. 

Q. Is there any particular form of church govern- 
ment enjoined in the New Testament? 
A. There is not. 



126 



CATECHISM. 



The great fact, however, of the headship of Christ, and 
the universal brotherhood of believers is positively as- 
serted. "For one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye 
are brethren/' Math. 23 :8. 

DIVINE ORDINANCES. 

O. What do we understand by the word sacrament 
as now commonly used? 

A. We understand by it a solemn ordinance instituted 
in the church, not only as a token of Christian mens pro- 
fession, but rather as a token of God's grace and good- 
will towards us, by which, when rightly observed, he works 
invisibly in us, and quickens, strengthens, and confirms our 
faith in him. 

Q. Are the sacraments in the church of divine insti- 
tution? 

A. They are. 

They are ordained by Christ himself, and not by the 
church, 

Q. Are the sacraments means of grace to convey tj 
us, when properly used, the grace which they represent? 
A. Yes, they are. 

When worthily received they are the means of our 
spiritual edification and comfort. 

O. Are the sacraments pledges of the grace which 
they signify? 

A. Yes; they are seals of the covenant between God and 
us, in which we devote ourselves to God, and he becomes our 
portion and trust. 

Q. How many sacraments has Christ instituted in 
the church? 

A. Two — Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 



CATECHISM. 



I2J 



i. BAPTISM. 
O. What is baptism? 

A . "The application of water to a person as a sacrament, 
or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the vis- 
ible church of Christ" — Webster. 

"Baptism is an ordinance instituted by Christ, consisting 
in the application of water by a Christian minister to suita- 
ble persons, for their initiation into the visible church, and 
consecration to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." — Summers. 
"Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of differ- 
ence, whereby Christians are distinguished from others that 
are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration, or the 
new birth."— Articles of Religion. 

O. What do we understand by baptism being "a sign 
of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christians 
are distinguished from others that are not baptized'? 

A. We understand it to be the same as saying that by 

baptism we are formally initiated into the visible church of 

Christ on profession of faith, and as such are distinguished 

from those who make no such profession. 

"Baptism puts us into the visible church, as the thing sig- 
nified by it puts us into the invisible church." — Summers. 

O. What do we understand by baptism being a sign 
of regeneration and the new birth? 

A. We understand that the washing of water in baptism 
is a sign of the washing of regeneration and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost. 

O. Is baptism essential to regeneration? 

A. No, it is not. 

0. May a person be regenerated without being bap- 
tized? 

A. Yes; the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and those 
that were with him before they were baptized. 

''Can any man forbid water, that these should not be 
baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well 
as we?" Acts 10:47. 



128 



CATECHISM. 



Q. May a person be baptized without being regen- 
erated? 

A. Yes; Simon the sorcerer was baptised by Philip, but 
he was not converted. 

"But Peter said unto him * * * thou hast neither 
part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right be- 
fore God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and 
pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be 
forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of 
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." Acts 8:20-23. 

Q. Are the sign and the thing signified inseparable? 

A. No, they are not. 

As we have seen, the one may exist without the other. 
A man may be born again without being baptized, or he 
may be baptized without being born again. 

O. Is baptism an essential condition of divine re- 
newal? 

A. It is not, but is intended to set forth the work of sal- 
vation wrought in our hearts, through Christ, by the power 
of the Holy Ghost. 

Q. What, then, may baptism with propriety be 

called? 

A. The sacrament of the Holy Ghost; designed to sym- 
bolise the work of the Divine Spirit in our hearts. 

Baptism does not of itself save us; but it is a duly 
which every saved man, who has the opportunity, should 
observe. Baptism should be insisted upon, as the initia- 
tory rite by which persons are admitted into the visible 
church of Christ. 

O. Is the baptism of little children Scriptural and 
proper? 

A. It is. 

'There were brought unto him little children, that he 
should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples 
rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and 



CATECHISM. 



forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the king- 
dom of heaven." Math. 19:13-14. 

O. But can little children, who inherit a corrupt na- 
ture, be subjects of the kingdom of heaven? 

A. They can. 

Christ, by the atonement of his blood, has taken away 
the sin of the world — the world's one great sin — and God, 
for his sake, will not condemn to eternal perdition any 
soul of man for the sin of another. Infants being incapa- 
ble of committing sin, through the atonement of Christ 
are accepted and recognized as members of the kingdom; 
and dying in infancy are saved. 

O. If little children, then, are included in the cove- 
nant, and through Christ are subjects of the kingdom, 
can we consistently deny to them baptism, the sign and 
seal of the covenant? 

A. We cannot. _ 

It is said with great propriety: 'The baptism of young 
children shall be retained in the church." Dis. Art. of Re- 
ligion 18. The infant is entitled to baptism, says Doctor 
Whedon, not, indeed, because he has faith, but because 
he is, through the unconditional power of the atonement, 
without faith, what the adult has to become through faith. 

Q. Who are proper subjects of baptism? 

A. Infants, and adult believers. 

O. May persons be baptised a second time? 

A. Valid baptism should not be repeated. 

Q. Is there any particular mode of baptism enjoined 
in the Xew Testament? 

A. There is not. 

Sprinkling, affusion, or immersion may be used, as de- 
sired by the subject. 

"It is simply because the mode is nothing and the idea 
everything, that a word was chosen which includes all the 
modes in which water can be applied as the means of purifica- 
tion."— Hodge. 



CATECHISM. 



2. THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

Q. When was the sacrament of the Lord's Supper 
instituted? 

A. The night before Christ was crucified. 

"For I have received of the Lord that which also I 
delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night 
in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had 
given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my 
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance 
of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, 
when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new tes- 
tament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in 
remembrance of me." I Cor. 11:23-25. 

Q. What is the design of this institution? 

A. To commemorate the death and passion of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ in the redemption and salvation of 
our soids. 

"For as oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this wine, 
ye do show the Lord's death till he come." 1 Cor. 1 1 '.26. 

O. What are the symbols employed in this ordi- 
nance? 

A. Broken bread and poured forth wine. 

O. What does the broken bread represent? 

A. It represents the broken body of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, broken on the cross for us. 

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and 
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
said, Take, eat; this is [represents] my body." Mala. 
26:26. 

Q. What does the poured forth wine represent? 

A. It represents the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, 
to make an atonement for our sins. 

"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it 
to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is [represents] 



CATECHISM. 



my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many 
for the remission of sins." Math. 26:27-28. 

0. Are the bread and wine in the holy communion 
mere symbols, or are they in the consecration service 
turned into the real body and blood of Christ? 

A. They are mere symbols, and represent the body and 
blood of Christ. 

To suppose that the bread and wine, in the conse- 
cration service, are turned into the real body and blood 
of Christ, contradicts our senses, which assure us that 
such is not the case. It also involves the absurdity of 
supposing that Christ took his body into his own hands, 
and broke and delivered it to his disciples; and the fur- 
ther absurdity that it is possible for the real body and 
blood of Christ to be present in a hundred, or a thousand, 
or ten thousand different places at the same time. 

Q. Is there any particular form of consecration pre- 
scribed in the New Testament? 

A. There is not. 

"The form of consecration anciently was not a bare repe- 
tition of the words, 'This is my body,' which for many ages 
has been the current doctrine of the Romish schools; but a 
repetition of the history of the institution, together with 
prayers to God that he would send his Holy Spirit upon 
the gifts, and make them become the body and blood 
of Christ; not by altering their nature and substance, but 
their qualities and powers, and exalting them from simple ele- 
ments of bread and wine to become types and symbols o£ 
Christ's flesh and blood, and efficacious instruments of con- 
veying to worthy receivers all the benefits of his death and 
passion." — Bingham. 

O. Who may properly partake of the Lord's Supper? 
A. Baptized believers. 

"Baptism is a prerequisite for communion, as the Lord's 
Supper is a church ordinance designed for members of the 
church, and none are members of the church who are not 
baptized. But there may be exceptions to this rule, as in 
cases where one who loves the Saviour, but has not had an 



CATECHISM. 



opportunity to be baptized, is present at the administration 
of the Lord's Supper, and wishes to testify his attachment to 
the Lord."— Summers. 

Q. May persons commune who have not the witness 
of their acceptance with Christ, but who are earnestly 
seeking a sense of the divine favor? 

A . Most certainly. 

"Of all men upon the earth they need it most. The very 
act of communing, while they are laying hold of the outward 
thing, may enable them to lay hold on the thing signified." — 
Summers. 

Q. In what consists the efficacy of this sacrament? 

A. The efficacy of this sacrament is wholly of a spiritual 
nature, and depends upon the blessing of God accompanying 
the reception o f the elements. 

Q. How should we come to this holy sacrament? 

A. With penitence, on account of our sins; with deep 
humility, on account of our dependence and unworthiness ; 
with overflowing gratitude, because of the great love where- 
zvith Christ hath loved us and given himself for us; and 
with a spirit of consecration, to do his will. 

O. How should we partake of the Lord's Supper? 

A. In faith. 

'This is eminently the sacrament of faith." 

"As it vividly sets forth the object of faith, so it assists in 
its exercise, in laying hold on the thing signified, and is thus 
not only 'an outward and visible sign of an inward and spir- 
itual grace,' but also 'a means whereby we receive the same, 
and a pledge to assure us thereof." — Summers. 

O. Is the Lord's Supper a monument to the truth 
of our hol> Christianity? 
A. It is. 

It is a standing evidence of the great fact that Christ 
died for our sins. It was instituted by Christ, and we 
have the strongest historical proofs — proofs which can- 
not be called in question — that it has been observed ever 
since the time of its institution. 



CATECHISM. 



VI. 

DIVINE RETRIBUTION. 

i. DEATH. 
0. What is death? 

A. Death, literally, is the separation of the soul from 
the body, and the return of the body to dust; and is the pen- 
alty, at least in part, originally denounced against transgres- 
sion. 

O. Is death universal? 
A. It is. 

"So death passed upon all men, for that al! have 
sinned." Rom. 5:12. 

O. Has the power of death been broken? 

A. It has. 

Christ ''hath abolished death, and brought life and 
immortality to light through the Gospel." 2 Tim, i.xo. 
"As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive." 1 Cor. 15:22. While all men must die, death 
can no longer hold us under his power. 

O. Will the period ever come when death shall be 
destroyed? 

A. We are assured that it will. 

" 'We are saved by hope': this law runs through the Chris- 
tian economy; we receive only the first fruits, every bless- 
ing and every deliverance being at best given in its earnest 
until the redemption of the purchased possession. But the 
day will come when every trace of this sentence shall be ef- 
faced."— Pope. 

2. THE RESURRECTION. 

O. Will there be a resurrection of the dead? 
A. There ivill. 

"Verily, verily I say unto you, The hour is coming, 
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the 



*34 



CATECHISM. 



Son of God; and they that hear shall live." Jno. 5:25. 
"Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again 
in the resurrection in the last day." Jno. 11:23-24. 
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which 
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall 
come forth, they that have done good, unto the resur- 
rection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of damnation." Jno. 5:28-29. 

O. Is the doctrine of the resurrection foreshadowed 
in the Old Testament? 

A. It is, in various places. 

"Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed 
at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abra- 
ham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For 
he is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Luke 
20:37-38. "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered 
up Isaac: * * * accounting that God was able to raise 
him up, even from the dead: from whence also he received 
him in a figure." Heb. 11 :iy-ig. "But God will redeem 
my soul from the power of the grave." Psa. 49:15. 6 Thy 
dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall 
they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: 
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast 
out the dead." Isa. 26:19. 

O. What relation does the Redeemer's person and 
work bear to this event? 

A. He is the great fountain of life, and the procuring 
cause of our resurrection. 

"I am the resurrection and the life." Jno. 11:25. 
"For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth 
them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will." Jno. 
5:21. "Because I live, ye shall live also." Jno. 14:19. 
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
first-fruits of them that slept." 1 Cor. 15:20. 



CATECHISM. 



135 



Q. Will the dead be raised with the same bodies that 
were laid in the grave? 

A. We may safely assume that they will. 

The term resurrection itself implies this: it is a re- 
vivifying — a raising up again, which seems to connect 
the risen body with the former mortal body. If the body 
laid in the grave be not raised, there can be no resurrec- 
tion. "The formation of a different body for the separate 
spirit would not be a resurrection, but a creation, in the 
secondary sense of the term, if formed out of pre-existing 
materials." — Dick. 

Q. What constitutes the identity of the human body? 

A. We may speculate on this subject, but we do not real- 
ly knozv. 

Considering that the body is in a constant state of flux, 
and does not consist of the same particles of matter at 
any two different periods of time, its identity must con- 
sist in something different from the mere gross material 
of which it is composed. If this were not the case, with 
every change of matter in the body, it would lose its 
identity. There is something, however, by which, amid 
all the changes that take place in the material of the 
human body, its identity is preserved. This something, 
whatever it is, will not be lost in death, but will connect 
the risen body with the body that is laid in the grave. 

O. While the identity of the body is preserved, will 
it in any way be changed? 

A. Yes; it will undergo a ivonderfal change. 

The apostle assures us that "flesh and blood can not 
inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption in- 
herit incorruption." 1 Cor. 15:50. Our present gross, 
material bodies are not adapted to our future state; but 
the Lord Jesus Christ "shall change our vile body, that it 
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according 
to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things 
unto himself." Phil. 3:21. "For this corruptible must 



CATECHISM. 



put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on im- 
mortality." i Cor. 15:53. 

Q. Can we understand this change? 

A. No; we cannot. 

How corruption can put on incorruption, and the 
mortal can put on immortality, is above our comprehen- 
sion, but not above the power of God. 

Q. How does the apostle point out the identity and 
difference of our present and resurrected bodies? 

A. By contrast of condition. 

"It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 
it is sown in dishonor: it is raised in glory: it is sown in 
weakness: it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; 
it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44. Here we 
see that the resurrected body is the same body that was 
laid in the grave, but wonderfully transformed and glori- 
fied, 

Q. Will all the dead, both good and bad, be raised 
up at the last day? 
A. They will. 

"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the 
just and of the unjust." Acts 24:15. "All that are in the 
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." Jno. 
5 :28-2g. "And the sea gave up the dead which were in 
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were 
in them." Rev. 20:13. 

Q. In what form will the bodies of the wicked be 
raised from the dead? 

A. On this subject we are not informed in the Bible; 
and it woidd not, perhaps, be either wise or profitable io 
speculate upon it. 

Q. Is the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead 
possible and credible? 

A. It is. 



CATECHISM. 



r 37 



No one who believes in the existence of a God of in- 
finite wisdom and power can doubt its possibility: and 
no one who accepts the teachings of the Bible, can for 
a moment call its credibility in question. 

3. THE JUDGMENT. 

O. Are men accountable to God, and will they be 
judged according to the deeds done in the body? 

A. Yes; men are accountable, and must stand before 
God in judgment. 

"So then every one of us shall give account oi him- 
self to God." Rom. 14:12. "For we shall all stand be- 
fore the judgment seat of Christ." Rom. 14:10. "For 
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ: 
that every one may receive the things done in the body, 
according to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. 

O. By whom shall all men be judged? 

A. God is the Judge of all. But he hath committed all 
judgment to the Son, who is equal with the Father. 

"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor 
the Son, even as they honor the Father." Jno. 5:22- 
23. "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath 
he given to the Son to have life in himself; and 
hath given him authority to execute judgment 
also, because he is the Son of man." Jno. 5 \26~2y. "Be- 
cause he hath appointed a day in which he will judge 
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath 
ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto ail men, 
in that he hath raised him from the dead." Acts 17:31. 
We are assured that "God shall judge the secrets of 
men by Jesus Christ." Rom. 2:16. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Is the judgment of the world an act of Christ's 
mediatorial authority and kingdom? 

A. It is; and will be the closing act of his mediatorial 
authority and reign. 

"He could no more judge the world than he could create 
it, if he were not God as well as man, asJt requires the incom- 
municable attributes of Deity for both undertakings. But it 
is obviously proper that the judge of all men should be man 
as well as God, in view of the fact that God had to become 
man, or assume humanity, in order to redeem men." — Sum- 
mers. "God has constituted him the judge of all men, because 
he is man, and knows from his own experience all the suf- 
ferings and infirmities to which our nature is exposed, and 
can therefore be compassionate and indulgent." — Knapp. 

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of 
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the 
same; that through death he might destroy him that had 
the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them 
who through fear of death were all their life-time subject 
to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature 
of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like 
unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faith- 
ful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make 
reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:14-17. 

Q. Will the judgment be searching and minute? 

A. It will. 

"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be 
evil." Eccl. 12:14. 

O. Will the judgment be just and impartial? 

A. Most certainly it will. 

"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. 
18:25. "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous 
are thy judgments." Rev. 16:7. "Whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7 



CATECHISM. 



*39 



"Every one will be judged according to the light he has 
enjoyed, and the use he has made of it. Those who have had 
the written law will be judged according to that; the heathen, 
according to the light of nature (Rom. 2: 13-16). Those who 
have had greater knowledge and more opportunities and 
powers for doing good than others, and yet have neglected 
or abused them, will receive a severer sentence. Math. 11: 20- 
24; 2 Thess. 1: o."—Enapp. 

Strict justice discriminates, and proportions punish- 
ment to crime. God will not punish any man mere than 
he deserves. There will be as many degrees in punish- 
ment as there are degrees in sin. God will assign every 
man to the place for which he by his own choice and 
voluntary acts has fitted himself. 

Q. When will the judgment take place? 

A. We do not know, save that it will be in the end of the 
world. 

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not 
the angels of heaven. " Math. 24:36. It is repeatedly 
called the "last day."' Jno. 6:39-40-44. 

O. Will the general judgment close the dispensation 
of mercy and grace to men? 

A. It will. 

"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered 
up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall 
have put down all rule and all authority and power. For 
he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet. 
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.'' 1 Cor. 
15:24-26. 

"All other judgments will culminate in this. It is, indeed, 
a court of appeals for the universe, at which all righteous de- 
cisions of the courts below shall be confirmed, and all un- 
righteous decisions shall be reversed. From this decision, 
there can be no appeal. It is emphatically 'the last judgment,* 
as no others succeed it; and 'eternal judgment' (Heb. 6: 2), 
as its allotments are irrevocable." — Summers. 



CATECHISM. 



4. PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 
Q. Will the wicked be punished in the future world? 
A. They will. 

"He that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:16. 

0. What will be the nature of their punishment? 
or in what will it consist? 

A. This is a question which can be answered with cer- 
tainty only in part. 

The misery of the wicked will arise, in the first place, 
from a sense of the divine displeasure: "The wrath of 
God abideth on him." Jno. 3:36. Secondly, from their 
own wickedness. "The wicked is driven away in his 
wickedness." Prov. 14:32. They will have a hell within 
themselves. Thirdly, from their associations. "The 
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that 
forget God." Psa. 9:17. "For without are dogs, and 
sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idol- 
aters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Rev. 
22:15. 

These three sources of misery we know shall exist, 
and we can not conceive of anything greater. Whether 
in addition to these there shall be some positive infliction 
of evil, we do not certainly know. There are various 
terms and expressions used in the Bible to represent the 
punishment of the wicked, such as "fire." a ' furnace of 
fire," a "lake of fire and brimstone," "the fire prepared for 
the devil and his angels " etc. Whether these are to be 
understood literally, or figuratively, we can not certainly 
say. One thing, however, is clear, that whether we un- 
derstand them literally or figuratively, they indicate the 
intensity of the suffering which the wicked shall endure. 

O. Will all the wicked endure the same degree of 
punishment? 

A. We cannot think so. 

God will- "give to every man according as Ins work 
shall be." Rev. 22:12. Every man's punishment will be 



CATECHISM. 



proportioned to his guilt. But the lowest degree of sin 
involves rebellion against the great God of heaven and 
earth, and to those who have heard the Gospel and per- 
sisted in sin, the rejection of the offer of mercy through 
the crucified Redeemer. This is a fearful sin. 

O. Dees God punish the wicked from a feeling of 
malevolence? 

A. Most certainly not. 

He punishes them only after they have rejected his 
mercy, and for the purpose of restraining and circum- 
scribing evil, of protecting the good, and promoting the 
happiness of the universe. If among men in this world 
sinners were not restrained, and crime discouraged 
and punished, the world would become a very pan- 
demonium. The punishment of sin, as a warn- 
ing against transgression, and as a means of promoting 
the welfare of the universe, is an act of infinite love; 
hence the redeemed are represented as exulting in the 
divine decisions, for "true and righteous are his judg- 
ments/' 

Q. Will the punishment of the wicked be unending? 
A. So the Bible teaches. 

The same word is used to denote the duration of the 
happiness of the redeemed, and the misery of the lost. 
"And these shall go away into everlasting [eternal] pun- 
ishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Math. 25:46. 

5. HAPPINESS OF THE SAVED. 

Q. Will the righteous be rewarded in the future 
world? 

A. They will 

"Verily, there is a reward for the righteous/' Psa.58: 
II. "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world " 
Math. 25:34. "For we know that if our earthly house 



142 



CATECHISM. 



of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 
God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 2 Cor. 5:1. 

Q. Is heaven a place? 

A. It is. 

"I go to prepare a place for you." Jno. 14:2. 
Q. Is it also a state? 

A. Yes; it is a state of uninterrupted blessedness. 

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor cry- 
ing, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former 
things are passed away." Rev. 21 4. 

O. In what will the blessedness of the redeemed and 
saved consist? 

A. It will consist, at least in part, in a conformity to the 
Divine image; in the vision of the Divine glory; in the sat- 
isfaction of the Divine enjoyment; in association with redeem- 
ed and pure intelligences; in enlarged knowledge; and the en- 
joyment of endless security and rest — in a word, in the ab- 
sence of all evil, and the presence and enjoyment of all good. 

"But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be 
like him." 1 Jno. 3:2. "I will that they also whom 
thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they 
may behold my glory." Jno. 17:24. "I shall be satisfied 
when I awake in thy likeness." Psa. 17:15. "After this I 
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could 
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and 
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and 
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God 
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And 
all the angels stood round about the throne, and about 
the elders, and the four beasts [living ones], and fell before 
the throne on their faces, and worshipped God." Rev. 
7:8-11. "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but 
then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I 



CATECHISM. 



H3 



know even as also I am known." i Cor. 13:12. "And 
there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and 
the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 
and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their 
foreheads. And there shall be no night there ; and they 
,need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord 
'Cod giveth them light : and they shall reign for ever and 
ever." Rev. 22:3-5. 

Q. Shall we know each other in heaven? 
A. Certainly we shall. 

Q. Is this anywhere asserted in the Bible? 

A. No; not in so many words; but it may be clearly 
deduced from its plain teachings, and from well-known facts. 

In the first place, man possesses a social nature; his 
greatest happiness in this world is derived from social 
intercourse and enjoyment; and the severest punishment 
that can be inflicted upon him is solitary confinement — 
a punishment which but few men can long endure. In 
the second place, if we are the same beings in the future 
world that we are in this, we will possess the same social 
nature. The identity of nature is essential to the identity 
of the individual. If we possess a different social nature, 
we will not be the same persons. In the third place, the 
memory of the present world will be retained in the next. 
This is evident from the case of the rich man and Lazarus. 
The rich man remembered his brethren and his fathers 
house; and Abraham reminded him of his former opul- 
ence, and of the poverty of Lazarus. The redeemed 
remember their former sinful and wretched condition, 
and ascribe praise to the Redeemer for their salvation. 
In the fourth place, we are taught that the redeemed 
and saved shall be with Christ where he is. They shall 
dwell together with him. They are represented as form- 
ing a great multitude, showing their association with 
each other. Now, can we conceive it possible for us 
to possess the same social nature — the love of iriends — 



CATECHISM. 



and to retain our memory of them, and to mingle with 
them for ever in the presence of the Saviour, and yet not 
know them? Such a supposition is too absurd to be ad- 
mitted for a moment. While our hearts yearn for our 
loved ones, and while they are about us, we can not think 
that our loving heavenly Father will hold our eyes so 
that we will not be able to recognize them. But it is 
objected that if we shall know 7 our friends in heaven, 
and shall miss any of those whom we expected to meet 
there, it will detract from our happiness. Supposing this 
to be the case, what would be the effect should we not 
be able to recognize any of our friends there? But the 
true answer to this objection is, that the redeemed and 
saved will perceive so clearly the wisdom and goodness 
of the divine decisions, that they will fully acquiesce in 
them, and will shout, "Alleluia! Salvation, and glory, and 
honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and 
righteous are his judgments." Rev. 19:1-2. 



PART II. 



ORIGIN OF METHODISM. 



JOHN WESLEY. 
Q. Who was John Wesley? 

A. He was the son of Samuel and Susannah Wesley, 
and the fifteenth child in a family of nineteen children. 

Samuel Wesley was a Church of England minister, 
and rector of Epworth parish, Lincolnshire, England. 
He was educated in Exeter College, Oxford, and was a 
man of much ability, and possessed of very respectable 
poetic talent. Susannah Wesley was the youngest 
daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley, an eminent dissenting 
minister, and one of a family of twenty-five children. She 
was a lady of education and piety, and possessed of great 
executive ability. The early education and training of 
her children were committed to her, and she conducted 
it with method and success. 

Q. Where and when was John Wesley born? 

A. He z^as born in the parsonage of Epzvorth on the 
28th day of June, 1703. 

Q. Where was he educated? 

A. At Oxford, England. 

At the age of ten he was admitted to Chaiterhouse 
School, London, and at the age of seventeen he entered 
Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1725 he was or- 
dained deacon, and in the following year he was elected 
Fellow of Lincoln College. In 1727 he received his 
degree of Master of Arts, and the next year he obtained 
priest's orders. 

Q. What did he do when he was ordained priest? 

A. He served his father for some time as curate, and 
then returned to Oxford. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. What kind of influence did he exert on his brother 
Charles? 

A. A very good influence. 

Under his influence and counsel his brother Charles, 
who was a student in Christ Church College, Oxford, 
became seriously impressed, and "soon gave proof of 
his sincere desire to be truly religious. 1 ' He attended the 
weekly sacrament, and persuaded two or three young- 
students to accompany him, and to observe the method 
of study prescribed by the statutes of the university. This 
gained for them the name of "Methodists." This was 
while John Wesley was at Epworth. 

Q. What occurred when John Wesley returned to 
Oxford? 

A. A little society for mutual improvement was formed. 

He and his brother Charles, and a Mr. Morgan, of 
Christ Church College, and a Mr. Kirkman, of Merton 
College, began to spend some evenings together, in read- 
ing chiefly the Greek New Testament. After some time 
their number was increased by the addition of two or three 
of John Wesley's, and one of Charles Wesley's, pupils, 
and still later by five other persons, among whom was 
Mr. Whitefield. 

O. Were their labors confined merely to study? 

A. No; they became active in good works, visiting the 
sick and those in prison, and, with the consent of the authori- 
ties, preaching to the prisoners. 

O. Did their conduct attract attention and excite 
opposition? 

A. It did; they were in derision called the "Holy Club,'' 
and bitterly opposed. 

Q. Did John and Charles Wesley ever visit this 
country? 

A. They did. 

I n T 735 John Wesley yielded to the pressing solicita- 
tions of Mr. Oglethorpe and others, to go to Georgia 



CATECHISM, 



149 



as a missionary to the Indians, and he persuaded his 
brother Charles to accompany him. The latter acted 
as secretary to Mr. Oglethorpe. They sailed from Graves- 
end, England, on the 226. day of October, 1735, and ar- 
rived in the Savannah river February 5, 1736. 

O. How long did they remain in this country? 
A. Bctzi'ccii one and two years. 

John Wesley took vessel at Charleston December 22d, 
1737, and arrived in England on February 1, 1738. His 
brother Charles had returned a short time before him. 

O. Was Mr. Wesley's mission to Georgia a success? 

A. It zvas not generally so regarded. 

O. Was he a truly converted man at that time? 

A. No, not in the sense in which he understood conver- 
sion afterward. 

He was sincerely endeavoring to serve God and faith- 
fully perform his duty, but his views of God's method 
of justifying the ungodly were confused. He did not 
seek justification by faith alone, but by the deeds of the 
law. 

WESLEY'S CONVERSION. 
O. When was he converted? 

A. According to his own account, on the evening of May 

He says: "In the evening I went very unwillingly 
to a society in Aldergate street, where one was reading 
Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About 
a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change 
which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, 
I felt my heart strangely warmed. 1 felt I did trust in 
Christ, Christ alone for salvation: and an assurar-.ee was 
given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, 
and saved me from the law of sin and death." His brother 
Charles had been converted three days before. 



CATECHISM. 



O. Was the doctrine of justification by faith and in- 
stantaneous conversion then generally credited? 
A. It was not. 

It was generally supposed that "if men were justified 
by faith alone, without any regard to works, then sinners 
obtaining this justification, and dying soon after, would 
be equal in heaven with those who had labored many 
years in doing good and serving God." This, it was 
held, would be unjust. 

PREACHING. 

Q. After the conversion of John and Charles Wes- 
ley, did they teach the doctrine of justification by faith 
alone? 

A. They did. 

In their private intercourse with others, and in their 
public preaching of the word, they presented and main- 
tained this new doctrine, as it was then called. 

Q. What was the result of this? 

A. They were excluded from the pulpits of the Estab- 
lished Church in London, and in most other places, and they 
began to preach on the streets, in private houses, and in the 
fields. 

O. What effects were produced by their labors? 
A. Scores and hundreds of the worst classes of people 
were converted and reclaimed from their vices. 

Q. Which of the Wesleys became the great leader 
in the movement? 
A. John Wesley. 

ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETIES. 

Q. What did he do with his converts? 

A. He organized them into societies, and provided, so 
far as he could, for their spiritual edification. 



CATECHISM. 



As the work extended, and as the number of mem- 
bers increased, lay preachers were employed, chapels 
were built, and a conference was organized. 

O. Did Mr. Wesley consider his societies a church? 

A. He did not. 

He simply regarded them as societies in the church. 
His preachers were not ordained, and the members of 
his societies went to the Established Church for the sac- 
raments. 

Q. Did this state of things long continue after Mr. 
Wesley's death? 
A. It did not. 

At the conference of 1793, two years after Mr. Wes- 
ley's death, the right of the preachers who had been re- 
ceived into full connection to administer the sacraments 
was recognized. From that time the Methodist body 
assumed the character of an independent church. 

Q. What was the number of Mr. Wesley's followers 
at the time of his death? 

A. The number in society reported at the -first conference 
after his death was 78,993; and 326 preachers at that confer- 
ence received appointments. 

METHODISM IN THIS COUNTRY. 

EARLY PREACHERS. 

Q. By whom was Methodism introduced into this 
country ? 

A. By Philip Embury and Robert Strawbridge, two 
Irish local preachers. 

In 1766 Philip Embury began preaching in a private 
house in New York, and organized a Methodist society. 
About the same time, or, as some claim, two or three 
years before, Robert Strawbridge commenced preaching 
on Sam's Creek, Carroll county, Maryland, and organ- 
ized a society there. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Who first came to the aid of Mr. Embury and 

his little band? 

A. Captain Thomas Webb. 

Captain Webb was in the king's service. He had 
lost an eye at Louisburg, had scaled the Heights of Abra- 
ham with Wolf, and fought in the battle of Quebec. 
About eight years after the battle of the Plains of Abra- 
ham he heard Mr. Wesley preach in Bristol, England, 
which resulted in his conversion, and he became a de- 
voutly religious man. Mr. Wesley licensed him to 
preach, and he became an earnest and successful laborer. 
The success of Methodism in the beginning in this coun- 
try was perhaps more indebted to him than to any one 
other man. 

Q. What preachers did Mr. Wesley send over to 
this country to aid in the work? 

A. In 1769 he sent over Richard Boardman and Joseph 
Pilmoor, in 1771 Francis Asbnry and Richard Wright, and 
in 1773 Thomas Rankin and George Shadford. 

Q. Who was the first native Methodist preacher in 
this country? 

A. Richard Owens. 

Richard Owens was one of Mr. Strawbridge's con- 
verts. He labored faithfully for a time as a local 
preacher, and then entered the itinerancy, in which he 
continued till death. Mr. Strawbridge appears to have 
been instrumental in raising up many preachers, among 
whom were Nathan Perigo, Richard Webster, Philip 
Gatch, and others. 

Q. Upon the whole, how did the work progress? 

A. It progressed very favorably. 

Scores and hundreds of precious souls were con- 
verted, and in the course of a few years many able 
preachers were raised up. 



CATECHISM. 



*53 



Q. How were the societies governed? 
A. M r. Wesley claimed a general superintendence of the 
work. 

At first there was no special system of government. 
Quarterly conferences were held, mostly to arrange for 
local interests ; and later, annual conferences were held to 
consider things of a more general character. These 
conferences were held sometimes annually, and some- 
times semi-annually. There does not appear to have 
been any stated time for their meeting. 

O. How long did this state of things continue? 

A. Up to the year 1784. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
Q. What took place in 1784? 

A. In 1784 the Methodist Episcopal Church was or- 
ganized by the preachers, or those of them who were present, 
in Baltimore, Maryland, at what was called the <( Christmas 
Conference! 3 

Q. How was this brought about? 

A. By the authority of Mr. Wesley, as it was claimed. 

0. Was that the case? 

A. No; not so far as the Episcopacy was concerned. 

There is some confusion connected with this sub- 
ject. Mr. Wesley was a minister of the Church of Eng- 
land; he acknowledged its authority, and never with- 
drew from its fellowship. Yet in his letter to "Dr. Coke, 
Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in America," he says he 
had been convinced for many years, "that bishops and 
presbyters are the same order, and consequently had the 
same right to ordain." Mr. Wesley was a presbyter — 
a bishop in the Scriptural sense of the term, but not in 
the prelatical sense. If he had the right to ordain, as 
he claimed, it was only to ordain deacons and presby- 
ters. Dr. Coke, whom it is claimed he ordained bishop, 



*54 



CATECHISM. 



in the prelatical sense, was a presbyter, and had as much 
right to ordain as Mr. Wesley. Did Mr. Wesley ordain 
Dr. Coke to be a presbyter? No; he was already a pres- 
byter. Did he. then, ordain him a bishop, in the pre- 
latical sense, assuming an authority he did not possess, 
and setting him apart to an office which he believed did 
not scripturally exist? This is the view entertained by 
many. His brother Charles regarded his act in this 
light, and Dr. Coke professed so to regard it, and so 
did many others. Viewed in this light his act could not 
be regarded as anything else than absurd. It represents 
the less as creating the greater; the stream as rising 
higher than its fountain. Hence Charles Wesley's sar- 
castic lines: 

"So easily are bishops made, 

By man's or woman's whim; 
"Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid, 

But who laid hands on him?" 

Dr. Whitehead apologises for Mr. Wesley's act by 
stating that at the time he ordained Dr. Coke he was 
eighty-two years of age; and he thinks that his "clear 
perception of things had been rendered feeble and dim 
by flattery, persuasion and age," or he never would have 
done such a thing. So thought his brother Charles, 
hence his exclamation: 

" 'Twas age that made the breach, not he.'* 

That Dr. Coke, who earnestly urged Mr. Wesley to 
ordain him, desired Episcopal ordination, can hardly be 
called in question. But, after all, is it not possible that Mr. 
Wesley has been misunderstood? He did not claim to 
be a prelatical bishop; and, old as he was, he had too 
much good sense to attempt to perform the functions 
of an office he did not fill. But he did claim to be, and 
was, superintendent of the Methodist societies every- 
where; and was it not to this office of superintendent of 
the Methodist societies of America, to act in his stead, or 
in connection with him, that he consecrated Dr. Coke, 
and authorized him to consecrate Mr. Asbury, and not 



CATECHISM. 



to the episcopal office as recognized by the Church of 
England? Is there not sufficient evidence of this fact? 
When Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury, of their own volition, 
without authority from Mr. Wesley, the conference, or 
an> one, styled themselves bishops, instead of superin- 
tendents, Mr. Wesley wrote to Mr. Asbury and remon- 
strated with him, saying, "How can you, how dare you, 
suffer yourself to be called a bishop? I shudder, I start 
at the very thought! Men may call me a knave or a fool; 
a rascal, a scoundrel, and I am content: but they shall 
never by my consent, call me a bishop." Now, if Mr. 
Wesley intended him to be a bishop, and ordained Dr. 
Coke a bishop ; how could he write in this manner? It 
is evident from Mr. Wesley's letter to Mr. Asbury that 
he did not intend that he and Dr. Coke should be bish- 
ops; for if he had, he would not have objected so ear- 
nestly to their assumption of the title. 

Again: Mr. Whatcoat, in his notes of the Christ- 
mas conference, as quoted by Stevens in his History 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, says, "On the 24th 
we rode to Baltimore; at ten o'clock we began our con- 
ference, in which we agreed to form a Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, in which the liturgy (as prescribed by the 
Rev. John Wesley) should be read, and the sacraments 
administered by a superintendent, elders, and deacons, 
who shall be ordained by a presbytery, using the Epis- 
copal form, as prescribed in Mr. Wesley's prayer book.'' 
Here we see that ordination was to be performed by a 
presbytery, which Webster defines to be "a body of 
elders in the Christian Church," and not by bishops. In 
this particular their decision harmonized with Mr. Wes- 
leys view, for he held that presbyters had a right to or- 
dain. In regard to the episcopacy, there appears to have 
been some confusion or hesitancy, as Dr. Coke and Mr. 
Asbury did not assume the title of bishop till they pub- 
lished the minutes of the conference. 



CATECHISM. 



Another thing in support of the view that Mr. Wes- 
ley only consecrated Dr. Coke to be superintendent and 
not bishop, is the fact that Dr. Coke appears never to 
have been satisfied with his so-called episcopal ordina- 
tion. A little over six years after the "Christmas Con- 
ference/' he applied to Bishop White, of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, to ordain him bishop. If he believed 
that Mr. Wesley ordained him bishop, and that his ordi- 
nation was valid, why did he desire to be re-ordained by 
Bishop White? In his letter to Bishop White he says, 
"I am not sure but I went further" than Mr. Wesley "did 
intend.'' In what could this have been? Not in tak- 
ing the superintendency of the Methodist societies in 
this country, for that Mr. Wesley did intend. If not 
in that, in what, then? It must have been, as we infer 
from Mr. Wesley's letter to Mr. Asbury, in assuming to 
be a bishop, and in organizing the Methodist societies 
in this country into an Episcopal Church. But failing 
in his application to Bishop White, Dr. Coke, about 
eight years afterwards, applied to the Bishop of London, 
evidently for the same purpose, but with no better suc- 
cess. Finally, about fourteen years after his letter to 
the Bishop of London, Dr. Coke wrote to Mr. Wilber- 
force in regard to a religious establishment in India, 
and his appointment to the episcopacy there. 

From all these facts we may justly conclude, first, 
that Mr. Wesley never intended to ordain Dr. Coke a 
bishop, and that Dr. Coke so understood him; and, sec- 
ond, that the imposition of episcopacy upon the Metho- 
dist societies in this country, professedly by Mr. Wes- 
ley's authority, was an unwarranted and gratuitous as- 
sumption of power. When Dr. Coke returned to Eng- 
land, he was not recognized as a bishop. 

Q. In the organization of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, were the rights of the laity in any way recog- 
nized? 

A. They were not 



CATECHISM. 



J 57 



The laity were not allowed to have any part in mak- 
ing or administering the laws of the church. So far 
as the government was concerned, they were entirely 
ignored. All the legislative power was in the hands 
of the preachers, and the appointing power in the 
hands of the bishops. The preachers, without con- 
sulting the wishes of the people, made all the laws; 
and the bishops, without consulting the preachers, 
made all the appointments. 

DISSATISFACTION. 

O. Was there any dissatisfaction manifested at the 
absolute power of the bishops in appointing the preach- 
ers to their respective fields of labor? 

A. There was. 

At the General Conference of 1792 James O'Kelly, 
one of the leading preachers, proposed to curtail the 
episcopal prerogative in this respect, and offered a res- 
olution that "after the bishop appoints the preachers, at 
conference, to their several circuits, if any one thinks 
himself injured by the appointment he shall have liberty 
to appeal to the conference and state his objections, and 
if the conference approve his objections, the bishop shall 
appoint him to another circuit.'' This resolution was 
discussed for nearly a week, but did not prevail. As a 
result Mr. O'Kelly and several others withdrew from 
the conference and organized the Republican Methodist 
Church. 

O. How did the office of presiding elder originate? 

A. By the appointment of the bishop. 

The elders ordained at the "Christmas Conference'' 
were appointed by Mr. Asbury to take charge each of 
a district embracing several circuits, to superintend 
the circuits' preachers, and administer the sacraments. 
The duties of the office were defined by the General Con- 
ference of 1792, in the minutes of which the title first 
appears. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Did the action of the General Conference of 
1792 produce any dissatisfaction in the church at large? 
A. It did. 

"After the rise of the General Conference of 1792, and the 
publication of what had been done, there was great dissatis- 
faction among the local preachers and the people. They 
viewed the government as settled on the principles of an abso- 
lute hierarchy, and the whole body of the membership and 
local ministry shut out from all participation in the govern- 
ment of the church. Mr. Lee says, 'Some of them contended 
that the local preachers ought to have a seat and vote in all 
our conferences; and others said, there ought to be a delega- 
tion of lay members.* "—Williams. 

Q. Was there any opposition developed among the 
preachers in regard to the presiding eldership? 

A. There was. 
Many of the preachers were in favor of the conference 
electing the presiding elders. A resolution to that ef- 
fect was introduced in the General Conference of 1800, 
but was defeated. At the General Conference of 1812, 
two days were spent in a great debate on the subject, 
but the measure was again defeated, "the bishops being 
known/- says Stevens in his History of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, "to be profoundly opposed to it." 
"At every session of the General Conference," says the 
same author, "since 1784, down to 1828, (with the pos- 
sible exception of 1804), this question obtruded itself, 
arraying the chief men of the ministry against each other 
in formidable parties." 

Q. Did this agitation continue? 

A. It did. 

"At the General Conference, held in Baltimore, in 1820, the 
question assumed so serious an aspect as to induce the belief, 
that a separation would be the inevitable result."— Williams. 

Q. What effect had this on the church at large? 
A. It greatly agitated it. 

"These warm contests among- the itinerant preachers for a 
division of power, had ag-ain waked up the local preachers 
and laity to an investigation of their right to a representation 
in the legislative department of the church." — Williams. 



CATECHISM. 



*59 



REFORM MOVEMENT. 

O. What means was now employed to enlighten 
the people on the subject? 
A. The press. 

About this time W. S. Stockton started a periodical 
entitled 'The Wesleyan Repository/' and opened its col- 
umns to articles on church government. Many of the 
ablest men in the church availed themselves of the op- 
portunity to discuss the subject, and advocate the mutual 
rights of the ministry and laity. 

O. How was this movement regarded by the friends 
of absolute authority? 

A. With great disfavor. 

"The editor was viewed as a disturber of the peace, the 
writers as backsliders, and the work itself as a malevolent 
engine designed to destroy Methodism in this country." — 'Wil- 
liams. 

Q. What effect had these discussions? 

A. They awoke the heal preachers and the laity more 
fully to a sense of their just rights and privileges. 

O. What further step did the friends of reform in 
the government of the church take to secure their 
rights? 

A. They resolved to petition the General Conference. 
Many memorials were presented to the General Con- 
ference of 1824 for a reform in the government of the 
church. 

O. What was done with these memorials? 
A. They were mostly read and referred to a committee. 
Q. What action did the committee take? 
A. It reported against granting the prayer of the peti- 
tioners. 

Among other things it said: "If by 'rights and priv- 
ileges' it is intended to signify something foreign from 
the institutions of the church, as we received them from 



i6o 



CATECHISM. 



our fathers, pardon us if we know no such rights, if we 
comprehend no such privileges." 

Q. What step was next taken by the friends of re- 
form ? 

A. A convention for mutual consultation was called. 

"After the rise of the General Conference of 1824, a meet- 
ing of reformers was convened in Baltimore, May 21, 1824, 
for the purpose of devising* and adopting such measures as 
they might deem necessary in the exigencies of the case, cal- 
culated to effect an improvement in the government of the 
church. Several distinguished traveling ministers were pres- 
ent, and also local ministers and laymen from different parts 
of the United States." — Williams. 

Q. What did the convention resolve to do? 

A. Several important things. 

They resolved to start a periodical publication to be 
entitled 'The Mutual Rights of the Ministers and 
Laymen of the Methodist Episcopal Church," to be con- 
ducted by a committee of ministers and laymen; to raise 
societies in all parts of the United States, w r hose duty it 
should be to disseminate the principles of a well balanced 
church government, and to correspond with each other. 
They also appointed a committee to issue a circular ad- 
dress to the ministers and members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in the United States. 

O. What were the immediate results of this con- 
vention? 

A. The action proposed was taken. 

"The Mutual Rights' 1 was started, Union Societies 
were formed, and information was disseminated among 
the people. 

Q. To what did this lead? 

A. To great opposition on the part of those in authority. 

The reformers were represented as "backsliders"— 
"under the influence of base motives" — "opposers of 
Cod" — "instigated by the devil," etc. In some places 
persons were expelled from the church for reading the 



CATECHISM. 



161 



u Mutual Rights,'' and being members of Union Socie- 
ties. Such expulsions took place in Xorth Carolina, and 
also in Baltimore, and other places. 

O. What further action did the reformers take? 

A. They held State conventions and elected delegates to 
a general convention which w&s held in Baltimore in Novem- 
ber, 182J. 

Q. What did that convention do? 

A. It prepared a memorial to be presented to the ensuing 
General Conference to hold its session in Pittsburgh in the 
following May, praying for a joint representation from the 
local ministry and membership in the rule-making depart- 
ment of the church. It also appointed a committee to call 
another general convention after the close of the General Con- 
ference, should the committee deem it necessary. 

O. Did the General Conference of 1828 grant the 
prayer of the petitioners? 

A. It did not, but instead assumed the most unwar- 
rantable prerogatives. 

It declared: "The great Head of the church him- 
self, has imposed on us the duty of preaching the Gospel, 
of administering its ordinances, and of maintaining its 
moral discipline among those over whom the Holy 
Ghost in these respects has made us overseers. Of these 
also, viz: of Gospel doctrines, ordinances, and moral dis- 
cipline, we do believe that the divinely instituted min- 
istry are the divinely authorized expounders: and that 
the duty of maintaining them in their purity, and of not 
permitting our ministration in these respects to be 
authoritatively controlled by others, does rest upon us 
with the force of a moral obligation.'' 

Q. Did the agitation continue? 

A. It did, increasing rather than diminishing. 

Members were expelled in various places, not for 
immorality, but for reading the "Mutual Rights," be- 
longing to Union Societies, and inveighing against the 



162 



CATECHISM. 



Discipline. Secessions also began to take place, the 
friends of expelled members withdrawing from the 
church. 

O. What concerted action was then taken by the 
reformers? 

A. A general convention was called to meet in Balti- 
more on the 1 2th day of November, 1828. 

O. Did that convention meet? 
A. It did. 

Q. What action did it take? 

A. It adopted articles of association, in view of the or- 
ganization of societies and churches. 

These articles of association were designed to serve 
as temporary rules for the government of societies and 
churches until a more full and complete system of gov- 
ernment should be formulated. A committee was there- 
fore appointed to prepare a Constitution, a Book of Dis- 
cipline, and a Hymn Book, to be submitted to a con- 
vention, to be held in Baltimore, Md., on the first Tues- 
day in November, 1830. 

O. Did that convention meet? 

A. It did. 

Q. What did it do? 

A. It adopted a Constitution and Discipline for the 
new church. 

THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

O. What was the new church called? 

A. The Methodist Protestant Church. 

Q. Why was it called Methodist? 

A. Because it retained in their purity all the doctrines, 
means of grace, moral discipline, and ordinances of Metho- 
dism. 



CATECHISM. 



O. And why was it called Protestant? 

A. Because it protested against the unjust usurpations 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Q. From what time, then, does the organization of 
the Methodist Protestant Church properly date? 
A. From the year 1830. 

The preliminary organization dates from November, 
1828, when Articles of Association were adopted, but 
the organization of the Methodist Protestant Church 
proper, dates from the convention of November, 1830, 
when a constitution and discipline were adopted, and 
the present name of the church assumed. This was the 
culmination of the reform movement that had been 
agitated for years. 

O. Had there been any annual conferences organ- 
ized under the Articles of Association? 
A. Yes. 

The following conferences had been organized, to 
wit: The North Carolina, the Maryland, the Virginia, 
the Alabama, the Philadelphia, the Tennessee, the Ohio, 
the Rochester, the Vermont, the New York, the Georgia, 
and the Massachusetts. Some of these conferences were 
very small, and afterwards changed their names, or were 
merged in other conferences. 

Q, Did the new church succeed according to the 
expectation of its founders? 

A. This question can not be definitely answered. It is 
presumed, in view of all the circumstances, that it succeeded 
as well as could reasonably have been expected. 

The new church had many difficulties to contend 
with. The Methodist Episcopal Church was thoroughly 
organized and established, and occupied the field; it was 
intensely, and even bitterly, opposed to the new organi- 
zation, and did everything in its power to prevent its 
success. The new church was without houses of wor- 



164 



CATECHISM. 



ship, and without parsonages, and was not fully sup- 
plied with suitable ministers. Many of those who had 
most strongly advocated the cause of reform, when they 
found that they were in the minority, either abandoned 
their principles, or ceased to advocate them, and re- 
mained in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Yet, not- 
withstanding these things, at the First General Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Protestant Church, held in 
Georgetown, D. C, in May, 1834, the number of mem- 
bers reported was 26,587, with over five hundred preach- 
ers, itinerant and local. 

THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY. 

O. Was the church agitated by any sectional ques- 
tion, to its detriment? 
A. It was. 

The subject of slavery was a difficult subject to deal 
with from the beginning, and with the advance of years 
the excitement and divergence of views on the subject 
increased, so that no action could be taken satisfactory 
to the whole church. The South became more sensitive, 
and the North became more aggressive. 

Q. Did the Northern conferences especially suffer 
from the agitation on this subject? 

A. They did. 

Many persons in the Methodist Protestant Church, 
as well as others, maintained that the conferences in the 
North, by affiliating with those in the South, gave their 
approval to the system of slavery that prevailed in the 
South. 

Q. How did this affect our church in the North? 

A. It created a prejudice in the public mind against it; 
and when the American Wesleyan Methodist Church was or- 
ganized in 1843, many of our members, and many of our 
churches, left us and united with them, on the ground of their 
opposition to slavery. 



CATECHISM. 



Q, Did the agitation on this subject continue? 
A. It did. 

At every General Conference the subject came up 
in some form for consideration, but could not be satis- 
factorily disposed of. 

Q. What was one of the special sources of trouble 
in this connection? 

A. ^ The management of "The Methodist Protestant!' 
the official organ of the Church. 

This paper was located in Baltimore, and belonged 
to the whole church. The conferences in the North 
claimed the right to publish in its columns their action, 
from time to time, denunciatory of slavery, and also 
freely to discuss and condemn the system. This was very 
distasteful, and would have been very injurious, to the 
church in the South, such publications being considered 
there very little, if anything, short of seditious. The 
situation, with the best of purposes on the part of breth- 
ren in both sections, was an exceedingly difficult one. 

Q. Was there any action taken by the church to re- 
*move this source of trouble? 

A. There was. 

At the General Conference of 1854, which met in 
Steubenville, Ohio, a plan was adopted, with great un- 
animity, which it was honestly believed would remove 
this cause of irritation, and secure peace to the church. 
According to this plan "The Methodist Protestant" was 
to be removed from General Conference control; the 
funds of the publishing concern at Baltimore were to 
be equitably divided, the Northern and Western confer- 
ences to receive their just proportion; "The Methodist 
Protestant" was to be managed and controlled by such 
conferences as should choose to patronize and sustain 
it: and the Western paper was to be managed and con- 
trolled by such conferences as should choose to patron- 



1 66 CATECHISM. 

ize and sustain it. In this way each section, without in- 
terference from the other, could manage its publications 
in its own way. 

SEPARATION. 

Q. Was this plan carried out? 
A. It was. 

O. Did it succeed in restoring peace to the church? 

A. No; instead of this it became the means of its di- 
vision. 

O. How did this occur? 

A. By the natural tendency of things. 

The official organ of the church, while it was the 
occasion of irritation, was, nevertheless, a bond of union, 
and when it was removed from under the control of the 
General Conference and two separate and distinct in- 
terests were created, that bond was destroyed, and each 
section, in that department of church work, became 
independent of the other. This feeling gradually in- 
creased, and, under the pressure of circumstances, led 
to acts which culminated in division. 

Q. Were there any other alliances sought by the 
different sections of the church? 

A. There were. 

The. conferences in the North and West sought an 
alliance, or union, with the American Wesleyan Metho- 
dist Church, and in order to accomplish it went even so 
far as to adopt the name of The Methodist Church. 

O. Did this attempt succeed? 

A. It did not. 

Q. Why was this? 

-A. Because the Wesleyan brethren did not act in good 
faith, and failed to carry out their part of the engagement. 



CATECHISM. 



167 



O. Was there any action of the same nature at- 
tempted by the Southern conferences of our church? 

A. There was. 

A convention was held in Montgomery, Alabama, 
in 1867, for the purpose of effecting, if practicable, a 
union with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

O, Was the attempt successful? 

A. It was not. 

Terms of union acceptable to both parties could not 
be agreed upon, and the attempt failed. 

O. Did each section of the church claim to be the 
original Methodist Protestant Church? 
A. It did. 

The Southern division, retaining the original name, 
claimed to be the original and legitimate Methodist 
Protestant Clinch, and that the conferences in the North 
and West had left the Methodist Protestant Church, and 
become a new body, with a different name. The North- 
ern division claimed that during the war of the rebellion 
the Southern conferences had repudiated the Twenty- 
third Article of Religion, which bound the church in 
allegiance to the Government of the United States, and 
were therefore in revolt from the Methodist Protestant 
Church. The brethren of the North and West also 
claimed that all the changes that they had made in the 
constitution and discipline of the church, including the 
change of name, had been made in a legal way and in 
harmony with the constitution and law of the church. 

O. Was there much bitterness manifested between 
the two sections before their final separation? 

A. It can hardly be said that there was. 

After the action of the General Conference of 1854, 
the two sections seemed naturally to drift apart: and 
during the war there was so little intercourse between 
the Xorth and the South that no opportunity was af- 



168 



CATECHISM. 



forded for ecclesiastical contention. After the war there 
was comparatively little controversy between the two 
sections, except in a few instances on the border, where 
there was some contention about church property. 

O. What effect had the civil war on the two sections 
of the church? 

A. It had a good effect. 

It abolished slavery, which had been the great sub- 
ject of contention between them, and thus removed the 
cause of their trouble. The war naturally left an unpleas- 
ant state of feeling between the North and the South; 
but the North, having been successful, felt that it could 
afford to be generous, and the terms accorded to the 
South were calculated to conciliate, so that by degrees 
a better feeling began to prevail between the two sec- 
tions, in which the churches shared. Time, if it did not 
change the sentiments of brethren, mellowed their feel- 
ings, and new conditions indicated the propriety of a dif- 
ferent course of action. 

REUNION. 

O. What was at length suggested? 

A. A reunion of the tzvo sections of the church. 

The subject of reunion was introduced and discussed 
in the church papers, and pleasant fraternal intercourse 
began to take place between some of the conferences 
North and South. 

O. What effect had this? 

A. It had a very good effect. 

The more the brethren of the two sections mingled 
together the more desirable a reunion appeared, and the 
more the difficulties in the way appeared to lessen. 

O. What official action, in view of a reunion of the 
two bodies, finally took place? 

A. The General Conference of the Methodist Protestant 
Church, which met in Lynchburg, Va. } May I, 18/4, ap- 



CATECHISM. 



pointed nine commissioners on the subject of anion, and the 
General Conference of the Methodist Church, which met in 
Princeton, Illinois, May 19, 1875, appointed nine commis- 
sioners on the same subject. 

Q. Did these commissioners, representing both sec- 
tions of the church, meet? 

A. They did. 

A joint meeting of these commissioners was held in 
the First Methodist Protestant Church, Pittsburgh, Pa., 
on Friday, October 22nd, 1875. After three days delib- 
eration the commissioners agreed upon a basis of union. 

O. What did these commissioners recommend? 

A. They recommended that a convention of each of the 
churches be called to meet in the city of Baltimore, Md., on 
the second Friday of May, 1877. 

The action of the commissioners was published in the 
Methodist Protestant and in the Methodist Recorder, 
for the information of all concerned. 

O. Were the conventions called? 

A. They were. 

All the conferences of the Methodist Church, twenty- 
one in number, concurred in the basis of union adopted 
by the commissioners, and elected delegates to the con- 
vention as recommended; and sixteen of the twenty con- 
ferences of the Methodist Protestant Church concurred, 
four dissenting; yet those conferences voting in the 
negative, as well as those voting in the affirmative, elect- 
ed delegations to their convention. 

O. Did these conventions meet? 

A. They did. 

The two conventions met in different churches in the 
city of Baltimore, on the nth day of May, 1877, and 
each, separately, adopted the basis of union; and having 
done so. both conventions adjourned and met together 
as one body,under the name of The Methodist Protestant 
Church. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Did the union prove satisfactory and harmo- 
nious? 

A. It did. 

Since the union, the church has been more aggress- 
ive and successful than at any former period of its his- 
tory. 

MISSIONS. 

Q. Has the church done anything in the mission 
field? 

A. It has. 

The subject of missions has always occupied the at- 
tention of the church. The first General Conference, in 
1834, elected a Board of Missions, which has been per- 
petuated ever since. It was first located in Baltimore, 
Md., then in Pittsburgh, Pa., and then in Springfield, 
Ohio, its present location. For many years the work 
of the church was, necessarily, of a home missionary 
character. Its energies were expended in enlarging the 
work at home — building churches and parsonages — and 
giving our work a permanent form. 

O. Was there any attempt made to establish a for- 
eign mission? 

A. There was. 

After the General Conference of 1850 an attempt was 
made to send a missionary to China, as well as one to 
Oregon. 

Q. Did the attempt succeed? 

A. No; not so far as China was concerned. 

A suitable person could not be obtained to go to 
China, and that part of the plan failed; but the Rev. Dan- 
iel Bagley was sent as a missionary to Oregon in the 
Spring of 1852. That was before the day of railroads 
in the West, and he, with a small company of others, 
went in wagons, by what was called "the overland 



CATECHISM. 



171 



route," occupying several months in making the trip. 
The toil and danger of that journey was far greater than 
that encountered by many persons going as missionaries 
to heathen lands. 

O. Was his mission a success? 

A. Considering all the circumstances, it was. 

As the result of Brother Bagley's labors, we have a 
small conference in Washington and Oregon. Its great- 
est strength is in Seattle and vicinity. 

O. What foreign missionary work has since been 
undertaken? 

A. A successful mission has been established in Japan. 

O. How was this brought about? 

A. Apparently by a special providence. 

In the winter of 1878 and 1879, ^ ss Lizzie M. Guth- 
rie, a returned missionary from Japan, visited Pittsburgh 
and made the acquaintance of some of the ladies of our 
church, and through her representations and influence 
a Woman's Foreign Missionary Society was organized 
by some of our women there on the 14th day of Feb- 
ruary, 1879. Miss Guthrie had been in the employ of 
the Woman's Union Missionary Society of New York. 
She had spent some two years in India, and about six 
years in Japan in mission work. While in Japan she had 
charge of a school of girls. She was instructed not to 
receive any more scholars, as there were no funds avail- 
able for their support. Two little girls, however, applied 
for admission, and she had not the heart to refuse them. 
She took the matter to God in prayer, and shortly after- 
wards a contribution was received from members of the 
Methodist Protestant Church by the Union Society, 
which enabled her to retain them. This turned her 
thoughts to the Methodist Protestant Church, and in 
coming to Pittsburgh, seemingly by accident, she met a 
lady member of our church, who took her to the Preach- 
ers' Meeting, and also introduced her to several ladies 



IJ2 



CATECHISM. 



of our church, and the result was the organization of 
the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church. 

O. When was the first missionary sent by our church 
to Japan? 

A. In 1880. 

The Eoard of Foreign Missions was anxious to send 
out a missionary to Japan, and so was the woman's so- 
ciety, but neither of them had funds sufficient, independ- 
ently, to do so. They finally agreed to unite their means, 
for the time being, and put a missionary in the field at 
once. 

O. Whom did they select as missionary? 

A. Miss Lizzie M. Guthrie. 

She was a lady of great amiability, sweetness of spirit, 
and large experience. No better selection could have 
been made. 

Q. When did she leave for her field of labor? 

A. On the 23d day of April, 1880. 

In about a week Miss Guthrie reached San Francisco, 
where she suddenly took sick, and died. Her body was 
embalmed and brought back to Pittsburgh for interment. 
Funeral services were held in the First Church, from 
which her remains were followed by many loving and 
sorrowing hearts to their last resting place in the Alle- 
gheny Cemetery. 

Q. Was the mission abandoned? 

A. No; it was not. 

Miss Harriet G. Brittan, a lady of great executive 
ability, who had served as a missionary in the employ 
of the Woman's Union Society for eighteen years in In- 
dia, and who was an intimate friend of Miss Guthrie, 
•came forward and proposed to take Miss Guthrie's place. 
She was accepted, and sailed in August, 1880, for Japan, 
and in October of the same year she opened a school in 
Yokohama. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Did the two missionary boards continue to carry 
on their work together? 
A. No; they did not. 

After the first mission was established, each society, 
separately, but in harmony with the other, devoted itself 
to its own particular work. Through Miss Brittan the 
Board of Missions obtained valuable property in Yoko- 
hama; and the woman's society, after a faithful effort, 
succeeded in building a ''home" for their work in the 
same city, valued at ten thousand dollars. 

O. How manv missionaries have been sent out to 
the present time — 1895? 

A. "Including the wives of missionaries, the represen- 
tatives of the woman's society, and a Japanese teacher 
fMiss Hiratij , educated by the Board, there have been sent 
out by the church twenty-six missionaries since the first mis- 
sion zcas opened in Yokohama in October, 1880." — Mission- 
ary Report for 1893. 

Since this report, some five or six other missionaries 
have been sent out. Besides these, there are three or- 
dained and four unordained native preachers, and ten 
native teachers and helpers. 

O. What is the value of the property now held by 
the Board of Foreign Missions in Japan? 

A. Seven thousand five hundred dollars. 

This does not include the property of the woman's 
society, which is worth ten thousand dollars. 

O. Is there an Annual Conference in Japan? 

A. There is. 

O. What do its reports show? 
A. Very encouraging progress. 

The minutes of the last (1896) conference are very 
full and complete, showing 13 ministers, 2 evangelists, 
5 theological students, and 10 workers in the Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society, 290 members, 38 proba- 



*74 



CATECHISM. 



tioners, 932 Sunday-school scholars, 3 churches, 31 ap- 
pointments, 2 parsonages; value of property, $7,500; 1 
college, 1 seminary, 1 night school, 1 girls' school. The 
number of students is not given. It makes a creditable 
showing. 

In addition to the above, there is a Home Missionary 
Society operating under the auspices of the church, the 
statistics of which are not at hand, for the purpose of as- 
sisting weak churches, and planting churches in desti- 
tute portions of our own country. The women of our 
church have also organized a society for the same pur- 
pose. 

EDUCATION. 

Q. Has the Methodist Protestant Church showed 
any interest in promoting the cause of higher education? 
A. It has. 

In the earlier period of its history it made several 
unsuccessful attempts to establish institutions of learn- 
ing. Its interest in that direction was greater than its 
ability? 

O. Did these failures deter it from other efforts in 
the same direction? 
A. They did not. 

In February, 1867, Adrian College, located at Adrian, 
Michigan, began its career as a Methodist Protestant 
institution. It had been commenced by the Wesleyan 
Methodists, but they were not able to sustain it, and it 
passed under the control of the Methodist Protestant 
Church, which assumed its indebtedness, amounting to 
about $30,000. It has large and beautiful grounds, ex- 
tensive and excellent buildings, and is partially endowed. 
It has a large and able faculty, and an increasing patron- 
age. There is also a School of Theology connected with 
it, where many of our young men are trained for the min- 
istry. 



CATECHISM. 



*75 



O. Is this the only college of the church? 

A. No; Western Maryland College, located at West- 
minster, Md., is another institution of learning under the 
control of the church. 

This institution was established under the auspices 
of the Maryland Annual Conference, and college exer- 
cises were commenced on the 4th day of September, 
1867. It was incorporated by act of the General Assem- 
bly of Maryland on March 30, 1868. It is beautifully 
located, has ample buildings, a popular faculty, and a 
large patronage. There is also a Theological Seminary 
connected with it, where many young men receive their 
theological training for the ministry in our church. 

O. Have we any other institutions of learning be- 
sides these? 

A. Yes; there arc two or three others — Yadkin College, 
North Carolina; Gittings Seminary, Illinois; and Kansas 
City University, Kansas. 

Yadkin College is located in Yadkin, North Carolina, 
and was incorporated by the Legislature of that State 
with full collegiate privileges in 1862. It is without en- 
dowment, and is dependent on patronage for support. 
It has been doing good work, and is worthy of enlarged 
success. 

Gittings Seminary is located in La Harpe, Illinois, 
and is under the control of the Illinois Conference. It 
has a partial endowment, and has encouraging prospects. 

Kansas City University is a new institution, located 
in Kansas City, Kansas, under the control of the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church. Its central building, a Iargre 
and imposing structure, is completed, and other build- 
ings connected with it are under way. The institution 
owns nearly two hundred acres of land immediately ad- 
joining the city, and in the direction in which the city 
must extend, and which cannot fail to become very 
valuable. It has other valuable assets; and altogether its 



i/6 



CATECHISM. 



financial prospects are encouraging. As there is no 
school of high grade in the city or neighborhood, the 
prospect of a large local patronage is good, while 
the patronage of our own church from the West- 
ern conferences may be relied on. The institution 
has made a commencement, with most encouraging 
prospects, and as soon as the necessary buildings are 
completed, its various departments will be fully organ- 
ized. It gives promise of becoming a very important 
institution of the church, and the necessity and propriety 
of sustaining it become more apparent every day. It 
should receive the hearty support of our people every- 
where, but especially in the West and Southwest. 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. 

Q. What are the official periodical publications of 
the Church? 

A. The Methodist Protestant (weekly), Baltimore, and 
The Methodist Recorder (zveekly), Pittsburgh. 

0. Does the Church issue any Sunday-school peri- 
odicals? 

A. It does. 

Q. What are they? 

A. Our Morning Guide, Our Children, Our Teacher s T 
Journal, Our Scholars' Quarterly, and Our Bible School 
Lesson Leaf. 

O. Do our publishing houses own any property? 
A. They do. 

Our two publishing houses have assets, above liabil- 
ities, of the value of over sixty-one thousand dollars. 

STATISTICS. 

Q. What is the number of itinerant ministers and 
preachers in the Methodist Protestant Church? 
A. One thousand five hundred and fifty. 



CATECHISM. 



*77 



Q. What is the number of unstationed ministers and 
preachers? 

A. One thousand one hundred and sixteen. 
Q. What is the number of members? 
A. One hundred and seventy-nine thousand and ninety- 
two. 

Q. What is the number of probationers? 

A. Four thousand six hundred and twenty-four. 

Q. What is the total membership? 

A. One hundred and eighty-four thousand three hun- 
dred and eighty-two. 

Q. What is the number of churches? 

A. Two thousand two hundred and sixty-seven. 

Q. What is the value of church property? 

A. Four millions five hundred and twenty-four thou- 
sand eigB hundred and fifty-seven dollars. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

Q. How many Sunday-schools are there in the 
Methodist Protestant Church? 
A. Two thousand eighteen. 
Q. How many officers and teachers? 
A. Seventeen thousand five hundred and sixty-seven. 
Q. How many scholars? 

A. One hundred seven thousand four hundred and 
ninety. 

Q. How many of our Sunday-school periodicals are 
annually circulated? 

A. One hundred thirty-nine thousand eight hundred 
and forty. 

O. How much money contributed ^mually? 
A. Tzventy-six thousand eighty dollars and twenty-five 
cents. 



i 7 8 



CATECHISM. 



YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES, 1895. 

Q. How many Young People's societies? 

A. Five hundred ninety-five. 

Q. How many members? 

A. Thirty-five thousand. 

Q. How many conversions reported? 

A. Nine hundred ninety-one. 

Q. How many received into the Church? 

A. Six hundred twelve. 

Q. How much money raised in the societies? 

A. Thirteen thousand seven hundred sixty-five dollars 
and twelve cents. 

The above figures have been taken from reports 
made to the General Conference of 1896, and are reliable. 



PART III. 



ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES. 



O. What are the three fundamental principles recog- 
nized in the organization of the Methodist Protestant 
Church? 

A. First, That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Head 
of the church. Second, That the word of God is the only 
sufficient rule of faith and practice in all things pertaining 
to godliness. And, third, That the representative form of 
church government is the most scriptural and best suited to 
the condition of the church. 

O. i. What is a church? 

A. A church, as defined in the Elementary Principles, 
"is a sociciy of believers in Jesus Christ, and is of divine 
institution." 

This definition is defective. It makes any society of 
believers in Jesus Christ, without defining the object of 
their association, a church. It leaves out at least two 
things which are essential to the existence of a church' — 
the preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of 
the sacraments. There is no church without these, in 
some form or other. A better definition would be: "A 
church is a society of believers in Jesus Christ, in which 
the Gospel is preached, and the sacraments are duly ad- 
ministered." Christ commanded the apostles to "teach 
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Math. 28:19. 
When he instituted the Lord's Supper, he "took bread, 
and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 
Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this 
do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also 
he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup 
is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as 
ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye 
eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the 



i82 CATECHISM. 

Lord's death till he come," I Cor. 1 1 :24-26. It is evi- 
dent that Christ intended this ordinance to be perpetu- 
ated in the church, in memory of him, till he come again. 

O. 2. Who is the only Head of the church? 

A . The Lord Jesus Christ. 

Q. What is the only rule of faith and conduct? 

A. The zvord of God. 

Q. 3. Who are entitled to membership in the 
church? 

A. Every one who "loves the Lord Jesus Christ and 
obeys the Gospel of God our Saviour." 

Q. 4. Have men a right to private judgment in 
matters of religion? 
A. They have. 

"Every man has an inalienable right to private judg- 
ment in matters of religion; and an equal right to express 
his opinion in any way which will not violate the laws of 
God, or the rights of his fellow-men." 

Q. 5. How should church trials be conducted? 

A. Only on Gospel principles. 

"No minister or member should be excommunicated 
except for immorality; the propagation of unchristian 
doctrines: or the neglect of duties enjoined by the word 
of God.'' ' 

Q. 6. What may be affirmed of the pastoral or min- 
isterial office and duties? 

A. That they "are of divine appointment!' 
Q. Is there a parity in the ministerial office? 
A . There is. 

"All elders in the church of God are equal." 
Q. What are ministers forbidden to do? 
A.- They "are forbidden to lord it over God's heritage, 
or to have dominion over the faith of the saints." 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 7. What rules and regulations has the church a 
right to form and enforce? 

A. Only such "as are in accordance with the Holy 
Scriptures, and may be necessary, or have a tendency to carry 
into effect the great system of practical Christianity/' 

O. 8, What power is inherent in the ministers and 
members of the church? 

A. "Whatever power may be necessary to the formation 
of rides and regulations" for its proper government. 

Q. May that power be delegated? 

A. It may, if the church shall so choose. 

"So much of that power may be delegated from time 
to time, upon such plan of representation as they [the 
ministers and members of the church] may judge neces- 
sary and proper." 

Whatever power is not delegated to their representa- 
tives in the Elementary Principles and Constitution, is 
retained by the ministers and members of the church. 

Q. 9. What is the duty of all ministers and members 
of the church? 

A. "To maintain godliness, and oppose all moral evil. 39 

Q. 10. What is obligatory on ministers of the Gos- 
pel? 

A. "To be faithful in the discharge of their pastoral 
and ministerial duties" 

O. What is obligatory on members of the church 
in regard to their pastors? 

A. "To esteem them highly for their works' sake; and 
to render them a righteous compensation for their labors." 

The apostle inquires: "If we have sown unto you 
spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your carnal 
things?" 1 Cor. 9:11. He declares again: "Even so 
hath the Lord ordained, that they that preach the Gospel 
shall live of the Gospel." 1 Cor. 9:14. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. ii. What should the church secure to all her 
official bodies? 

A. "The necessary authority for the purpose of good 
government" 

A church that has not authority to enforce proper 
rules and regulations of government, lacks an essential 
element of success, and is liable at any time to fall into 
confusion and anarchy. 

O. What has the church no right to create? 

A. "Any distinct or independent sovereignties/' 

Any power or organization distinct from the church, 

and not responsible to it and under its control, is here 

forbidden. 

Q. Are the Elementary Principles part of the or- 
ganic law of the church, and equally as binding as the 
Constitution? 

A. They are. 

We "agree to be governed by the following Elemen- 
tary Principles and Constitution." 

CONSTITUTION. 
ARTICLE I. 
TITLE. 

O. What is the official and legal name of the church? 
A. The Methodist Protestant Church. 

ARTICLE II. 

TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP. 

O. I. Is there a state of probationary membership 
in the Methodist Protestant Church? 
A. There is. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. What are the conditions required of those who 
apply for probationary membership? 

A. "A desire to flee from the wrath to come, and be 
saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, with 
a determination to walk in all the commandments of God 
blameless'' 

Q. How long must this state of probation continue? 

A. There is no length of time fixed. 

It may be long or short, according to the desire of 
the applicant, and the judgment of the church as to his 
fitness to be received. 

O. What rights have probationers in the church? 

A. They have no rights as members, because they are 
not members, but candidates for membership. 

But as such the church should extend to them its 
watch-care, and aid them in their efforts to lead a Chris- 
tian life. A probationer may withdraw his application 
at any time, or the church at any time, for reasons sat- 
isfactory to itself, may, without a trial, drop his name. 

O. 2. What power has a church in regard to the re- 
ception of members? 

A. A church has "power to receive members, on pro- 
fession of faith, or on certificate of good standing in any 
other Christian church; provided they are satisfied with the 
Christian experience of the candidate." 

Q. Does this imply that a church has not a right 
to receive into full membership unconverted persons, 
who make "no profession of faith," and who have no 
"Christian experience"? 

A. It does. 

Such persons, as seekers of religion, may be received 
on probation, but not as full members. The church is 
"a society of believers in Jesus Christ," in the true sense 
of the term. 



1 86 CATECHISM. 

O. 3. How should the children of our members, and 

those under their guardianship, be regarded? 

A. As candidates for membership. 

They "shall be recognized as enjoying probationary 
privileges, and held as candidates for membership, and 
should, with the consent of their parents or guardians, 
be put into classes as such." 

This article appears to be defective. It should read, 
"The baptized children of our members," etc. Children 
have no right to recognition in the church by natural 
descent, but by covenant engagement, and when dedi- 
cated to God in baptism, the church should take them 
under its watch-care. This truth should be impressed 
by ministers and pastors on the minds of parents, and 
they should be encouraged to dedicate their children to 
God in baptism. 

ARTICLE III. 
DIVISION INTO DISTRICTS, STATIONS AND 
CIRCUITS. 

Q. 1. How is the territory occupied by the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church divided? 

A. Into conference districts, with such boundaries as 
may be fixed from time to time by the General Conference. 

Q. 2. How are the districts divided? 

A. Into stations, circuits and missions, by the Annual 
Con ference. 

Q. 3. Can a minister or preacher, removing from 
one district to another, or a member removing from one 
pastoral charge to another, having a certificate of good 
standing, claim membership in the district or pastoral 
charge to which he has removed? 

A. He can not, without the consent of the district or 
pastoral charge to which he applies for membership. 



CATECHISM. 



i8 7 



A certificate of good standing is not a legal trans- 
fer of membership from one district or pastoral charge 
to another. It simply certifies to a fact, on the strength 
of which a district or pastoral charge may elect the per- 
son holding it to membership. 

O. What is the difference between a minister and a 
preacher? 

A. A minister is one who is ordained, and not only 
authorized to preach the Gospel, but to celebrate matrimony, 
and administer the sacraments. A preacher is not ordained, 
but acts under a license. He has authority to preach the 
Gospel, but not to marry or administer the ordinances. 

ARTICLE IV, 
ON RECEIVING CHURCHES, ETC. 

O. i. How are churches received? 

A. By application to the President of an Annual Con- 
ference, or the pastor of a station or circuit. 

''Any number of believers united as a church, em- 
bracing the principles of religious truth held by this 
church, adopting this Constitution, and conforming to 
our Book of Discipline and means of grace, shall, at their 
request made to the President of an Annual Conference, 
or a pastor of a station or circuit, be recognized as a 
Methodist Protestant Church, and be entitled to all the 
privileges granted by this Constitution." 

0. Is there no other condition required in the re- 
ception of churches but a mere application to the Presi- 
dent of a conference, or the pastor of a charge? 

A. Yes; the application must be approved by the nearest 
Quarterly Conference. 

Without such approval neither a President nor a pas- 
tor can receive a church. 



i88 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 2. Of whom must a church be composed? 

A. "Of members residing sufficiently near each other to 
assemble statedly for public worship, and of sufficient number 
to fill the offices and to transact its temporal business/' 

Q. How shall every church be divided? 

A. Into classes. 

"Every church shall be divided, when it becomes ne- 
cessary, into smaller companies or classes, for the pur- 
pose of religious instruction and edification." 

Q. 3. Has each church power to purchase, build, 
lease, sell, rent, or otherwise dispose of property? 
A. It has. 

O. Is the exercise of this power conditioned? 
A. It is. 

Q. What are the conditions? 

A. 1. This power cannot be exercised unless authorized 
"by the concurrent vote of two-thirds of the qualified mem- 
bers." 2. They cannot vote by proxy, but must be "present." 
5. The "meeting" must have been "publicly called." 4. Its 
"purpose" must have been publicly stated. 5. The property 
must be obtained or disposed of "for the benefit of the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church." 

No church can alienate its property from the denom- 
ination. 

Q. 4. What other power does each church possess? 

A. "Each church shall also have power to admit per- 
sons into fidl membership; and to try, censure, or expel tin- 
zvorthy members, in accordance with the provisions of this 
Constitution, and the Rides of Discipline" 

Q. 5. What is required of all churches, as a condi- 
tion of remaining connected with the general body? 

A. The observance of its rides and regulations. 

'That they continue to conform to this Constitution, 
and the regulations contained in the Book of Discipline." 



CATECHISM. 1S9 

ARTICLE V. 

MONTHLY MEETINGS. 

Q. Is there any provision made for stated meetings 
of the church? 
A. There is. 

"There shall be in every station'' — and the same pro- 
vision is recommended for circuits — "a meeting of the 
ministers, preachers and members of the church, to be 
styled the monthly meeting." 

O. What business shall this meeting transact? 

A. It shall receive reports from the leaders, stewards, 
and superintendents of Sabbath-schools, ce and inquiry shall 
be made respecting the sick, poor, and such as require pastoral 
attention/' . 

O. Is the pastor a member of the monthly meeting? 
A. He is. 

<k The pastor, if present, shall preside, and endeavor 
to make the occasion one of spiritual profit," as well as 
temporal advantage to the church. 

The monthly church meeting affords one of the best 
means for utilizing the entire talent of the church, unit- 
ing young and old in effort in every possible way for 
the promotion of its interests. Measures may be adopted, 
and committees appointed to carry on every department 
of church work. While it secures unity of purpose it 
admits of great diversity of effort. 

ARTICLE VI. 
QUARTERLY COXFEREXCE. 

O. I. Who compose the. Quarterly Conference? 

A. The official members of the church. 

It is composed of "all the ministers, preachers, ex- 
horters. stewards, leaders, Sabbath-school superintend- 
ents, and trustees, in full membership. " 



ipo 



CATECHISM. 



Q. How many Quarterly Conferences shall be held 
in a year? 

A. Four. 

'There shall be four Quarterly Conferences in each 
station, circuit and mission in each conference year." 

O. Is there any provision for special meetings of 
the Quarterly Conference? 

A. There is. 

"The pastor, or five members of the Quarterly Confer- 
ence, shall have authority to call special meetings of the 
Quarterly Conference at other times, when circum- 
stances make it necessary." 

0= 2. With what power is the Quarterly Conference 
vested? 

A. i. With power to examine into the official character 
of all its members. 2. To admonish or reprove, as occasion 
may require. 3. To grant persons properly qualified and 
recommended by the class of which the applicant is a member, 
license to preach and exhort. 4. To renew license annually. 
5. To admit ministers and preachers coming from any other 
church, 6. To recommend ministers and preachers to the 
Annual Conference, for the itinerancy, and for ordination. 7. 
To hear and decide on appeals. 8. To perform such other 
ditties as are authorized by the Constitution and Discipline. 

O. Can the Quarterly Conference license any one to 
preach who has not been examined? 

A. No. 

"No person shall be licensed to preach until he shall 
have been examined and recommended by a committee 
of five, composed of ministers and laymen, chosen by the 
Quarterly Conference." 



CATECHISM. 



191 



ARTICLE VII. 
COMPOSITION AND POWERS OF ANNUAL 
CONFERENCES. 

Q. 1. Who compose the Annual Conference? 

A. "The Annual Conference is composed of all the itin- 
erant ministers belonging to the district, and of one delegate 
from each station, circuit, and mission for each of its itinerant 
ministers, except superannuates, supernumeraries, ministers 
left without appointments at their own request, and ministers 
left in the hands of the President/' 

O. Can a minister who is not subject to the direc- 
tion of the Conference be, legally, a member of the Con- 
ference? 

A. He can not. 

Only "ministers who are properly under the station- 
ing authority of the Conference" can be members of it. 
Men who are engaged in business, or who are so cir- 
cumstanced that they cannot be subject to the appointing 
power of the Conference, can not legally hold member- 
ship in it. 

O. Are preachers who are received into the Confer- 
ence as probationers entitled to vote in the Conference? 
A. They are not. 

The Conference is composed of ministers — persons 
who are ordained — and lay delegates. Preachers who 
are not ordained are only candidates for membership, 
and are not entitled to vote. 

O. Can any station or circuit be deprived of rep- 
resentation in the Annual Conference? 

A. No; it can not. 

"Every station and circuit shall have at least one del- 
egate." 

Q. How shall delegates be elected? 
A. "Each Annual Conference shall regulate the man- 
ner of election in its own district." 



I$2 



CATECHISM. 



O. 2. With what power is each Annual Conference 
invested? 

A. Each Annual Conference shall have power, i. To 
elect a President annually. 2. To examine into the official 
conduct of all its members. J. To receive by vote, such min- 
isters and preachers into the Conference as come properly 
recommended, and who can be efficiently employed as itinerant 
preachers. 4. To elect to orders those who are eligible and 
competent to the pastoral office, 5. To hear and decide on ap- 
peals. 6, To define and regulate the boundaries of stations 
and circuits. 7. To station the ministers and preachers. 8. 
To make such rules and regulations as may be necessary lo 
defray the expenses of the itinerant ministers and their fam- 
ilies and raise the amount of their salaries, and for all other 
purposes connected with the organization and continuance of 
the Conference, p. And to perform such other duties as are 
prescribed by the Constitution and Discipline, or may be pre- 
scribed by the General Conference. 

Q. 3. Have the Annual Conferences authority re- 
spectively to perform any additional duties? 

A. They have. 

They have authority: 1. "To make such special 
rules and regulations as the peculiarities of the district 
may require; provided, however, that no rule or regula- 
tion be made inconsistent with the Constitution. And 
provided, furthermore, that the General Conference shall 
have power to annul any rule or regulation which that 
body may deem unconstitutional." 2. "To prescribe 
and regulate the mode of stationing the ministers and 
preachers within the district; provided, always, that they 
grant to each minister or preacher stationed the right 
of appeal during the sitting of the Conference." 3. "To 
set off home missions, and provide for their proper reg- 
ulation and their representation in the respective Annual 
Conferences." 

The Constitution authorizes the Annual Conferences 
"to prescribe and regulate the mode of stationing the 



CATECHISM, 



193 



preachers," and does not recognize the right of pastors 
and charges to make private contracts in regard to min- 
isterial supply independently of the Conference. Such 
contracts can only be regarded as expressive of the 
wishes of the parties, to be granted or refused, as the 
Conference in its wisdom may deem best, in view of all 
the interests to be conserved. The authority of the An- 
nual Conference to make the appointments should be 
fully recognized as supreme and final. 

The proviso in item two of the preceding paragraph 
does not appear to be in harmony with the doctrine of 
mutual rights. The right of appeal from the appointing 
power of the Conference is granted to ministers and 
preachers, but withheld from the representatives of the 
churches. Then, the provision appears to be confused. 
If an appeal is taken from the appointment of the Confer- 
ence, to whom does the individual appeal? If the Confer- 
ence appoint a committee on appeals, that committee is 
the creature of the Conference, and must report to the 
Conference, and on that report the Conference must act, 
so that the appeal is virtually from the Conference to the 
Conference — for the Conference is the final authority in 
every case. In some Conferences when the President or 
Stationing Committee submits its report, if any one, 
either minister or delegate is dissatisfied, the report is re- 
committed, without debate, and after the aggrieved par- 
ty has been heard, and his statements carefully consid- 
ered, the report is resubmitted, and the Conference takes 
final action. The proviso might be omitted without in- 
jury to any one. 

O. What shall neither the General Conference nor 
any Annual Conference assume? 

A. "Power to interfere with the constitutional powers 
of the civil governments, or with the operations of the civil 
laws:' 



194 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Does this authorize or sanction anything im- 
moral that is upheld by civil law? 
A. It does not. 

"Nothing herein contained shall be so construed as 
to authorize or sanction anything inconsistent with the 
morality of the Holy Scriptures." 

ARTICLE VIII. 
COMPOSITION OF THE GENERAL CONFER* 

ENCE. 

Q. When does the General Conference convene? 

A. On the third Friday in May every fourth year, dat- 
ing from 1880. 

Q. Where shall it meet? 

A. It shall determine its own place of meeting. 

O. Of whom shall the General Conference consist? 

A. "Of an equal number of ministers and laymen! 9 

Q. 2. What is the ratio of representation? 

A. "The ratio of representation from each Annual Con- 
ference district shall be one minister and one layman for each 
two thousand persons in full membership; provided that ev- 
ery Conference district having one thousand or more over 
two thousand shall be entitled to an additional delegation of 
one minister and one layman ; and, provided further, that every 
Annual Conference district that may not have two thousand 
members shall be entitled to two representatives, one minister 
and one layman, until a different ratio shall be fixed by the 
General Conference/' 

O. 3. How shall the representatives to the General 
Conference be elected? 

A. "The representatives to which each district may be 
entitled, shall be elected at the time and place of holding the 
Annual Conference of the district, next preceding the sitting 
of the General Conference, by the joint ballot of an electoral 



CATECHISM. 



!95 



college, composed of the ministers and' dele gates belonging to 
the Annual Conference, and one minister, who is not under the 
stationing authority of the Conference, provided there be 
such, from each station and circuit within the limits of the 
district. 

Q. How shall this local minister be elected? 

A. He shall be elected at the time and place of holding 
the Quarterly Conference, by the ministers in his station or 
circuit not under the stationing authority of the Annual Con- 
ference! y 

Q. May a minister be a delegate to the session of 
the Annual Conference that elects representatives to the 
General Conference? 

A. No; all "the delegates from the respective stations 
and circuits must be laymen/' 

Q. Do the ministers and lay delegates in voting for 
representatives to the General Conference vote together? 

A. No; they do not; they vote separately. 

"It requires an affirmative vote of a majority of all 
the lay delegates as well as a majority vote of the min- 
isters present, to constitute the election of any represen- 
tative to the General Conference." 

O. 4. When the General Conference assembles, 
what shall it do? 

A. 1. It shall elect, by ballot, a president to preside over 
its deliberations, and a secretary, to serve during the sitting 
of the Conference. 2. It shall "judge of election returns 
and the qualifications of its own members, and form its own 
rides of order." 

Q. What number shall constitute a quorum? 

A. "A majority of all the representatives in attendance 
shall constitute a quorum." 

Q. 5. Do the ministers and laymen deliberate in 
one body? 

A. They do. 



ip6 



CATECHISM, 



Q. Is there any provision for a vote by orders? 
A. There is. 

"If, upon the final passage of any question, it be re- 
quired by five members, the ministers and laymen shall 
vote separately, and the concurrence of a majority of 
both classes of representatives shall be necessary to con- 
stitute a vote of the Conference." 

O. Does this regulation apply also to* the Annual 
Conferences? 

A. It does. 

"A similar regulation shall be observed by the Annual 
Conferences." 

This provision prevents class legislation and enables 
each order to maintain, when necessary, its independence 
of the other. 

Q. 6. Is there any provision for voting by yeas and 
nays? 

A. There is. 

"The yeas and nays shall be recorded at the call of 
one-fifth part of the members present." 

Q. 7. Shall the journal of Conference be published? 
A. Yes. 

"The Conference shall publish such parts of its pro- 
ceedings as it may deem requisite." 

O. 8. How shall the property of the General Confer- 
ence be preserved? 

A. As that body may direct. 

"All papers, books, or other property belonging to 
the Conference, shall be preserved as that body may di- 
rect." 

ARTICLE IX. 

POWERS OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE. 

Q. 1. What power has the General Conference? 
A. 1. The General Conference has pazver, (( To make 
rules and regulations for every department of the church 



CATECHISM. 



*97 



recognized by this Constitution. 2. To regulate from time to 
time, the number of representatives to the General Conference. 
3. To define the boundaries of Annual Conference districts. 

Q. Have the Annual Conferences, or any two or 
more districts, power, by mutual agreement, to alter their 
respective adjoining boundaries, or to set off a new dis- 
trict? 

A. They have; {e bnt every alteration shall be reported to 
the ensuing General Conference for its action!' 

Q. Has the General Conference any power con- 
ferred upon it by the Constitution, to legislate on doc- 
trines, or change the Articles of Religion? 

A. It has not. 

Any attempt to do so by the General Conference 
would be a usurpation of power that does not belong 
to it, because not delegated to it by the church. 

ARTICLE X. 
RESTRICTIONS ON THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEM- 
BLIES. 

Q. 1. What restrictions are placed on the legislative 
assemblies in the exercise of their specific powers? 

A. The following: — 

"1. No rule shall be passed which shall contravene 
any law of God. 

"2. No rule shall be passed which shall infringe the 
right of suffrage, eligibility to office, or the rights and 
privileges of our ministers, preachers, and members to 
an impartial trial by committee, and of an appeal, as pro- 
vided by the Constitution. 

"3. No rule shall be passed infringing the liberty 
of speech, or of the press; but for every abuse of liberty, 
the offender shall be dealt with as in other cases of in- 
dulging in sinful words and tempers. 



CATECHISM. 



"4. No rule, except it be founded on the Holy Scrip- 
tures, shall be passed authorizing the expulsion of any 
minister, preacher or member. 

"5. No rule shall be passed appropriating the funds 
of the church to any purpose except the support of the 
ministry, their wives, widows, and children, the promo- 
tion of education and missions, the diffusion of useful 
knowledge, the necessary expenses consequent on as- 
sembling the Conferences, and the relief of the poor. 

"6. No higher order of ministry shall be authorized 
than that of elder. 

"7. No rule shall be passed to abolish an efficient 
itinerancy. Each Annual Conference shall have author- 
ity to determine for itself whether any limit, or, if any, 
what limit, shall be to the renewal of annual appoint- 
ments. 

"8. No change shall be made in the relative propor- 
tions or component parts of the General or Annual Con- 
ferences." 

ARTICLE XL 

OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH. 

PRESIDENTS OF THE ANNUAL CONFER- 
ENCES. 

Q. 1. By whom shall the President of each Annual 
Conference be elected? 

A. By a majority of the members of the Conference. 

'The President of each Annual Conference shall be 
elected annually, by the ballot of a majority of the mem- 
bers of the Conference. ,? 

Q. For how long, successively, shall he be eligible 

to office? 

A. For five years only. 



CATECHISM. 



O. To whom is he amenable for his official conduct? 
A. To the Conference, 

O. 2. What shall be the duty of the President of an 
Annual Conference? 

A. i. "To preside in all meetings of that body!' 2. 
When required by the Conference, to travel through the dis- 
trict, visit all the stations and circuits, be present, as far as 
practicable, at all the quarterly meetings and camp meetings 
of his district/' 3. "In the recess of Conference, with the 
assistance of two or more ciders, to ordain those persons who 
may [have been] elected to orders/' 4. "To employ such min- 
isters and preachers as are duly recommended/' 5. "To 
make such changes of preachers as may be necessary; pro- 
vided the consent of said preachers and their charges be first 
obtained/' 6. "To perform such other duties as may be re- 
quired by his Annual Conference/' 

MINISTERS. 

O. 1. What shall the minister who shall be appointed 
by the Annual Conference to the charge of a station or 
circuit be styled? 

A. The Pastor. 

O. To whom shall he be amenable for his official 
conduct? 

A. To the Annual Conference. 

O. 2. What shall the minister or preacher ap- 
pointed by the Annual Conference, to assist the pastor 
in the discharge of his pastoral duties, be styled? 

A. The Associate Pastor. 

O. To whom shall he be amenable for his official 
conduct? 

A. To the Annual Conference. 

O. 3. What shall be the duty of every minister and 
preacher belonging to a station or circuit? 

A. "'To render all the pastoral assistance he can, con- 
sistent with his other engagements." 



200 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Are such ministers or preachers accountable to 
the Annual Conference for the discharge of ministerial 
duty? 

A. No; but to the Quarterly Conference of their station 
or circuit. 

This paragraph refers to the duties of local or un- 
stationed ministers and preachers. 

Q. 4. Shall any person be recognized as an itinerant 
minister, preacher, or missionary, whose name is not 
enrolled on the Annual Conference list, or who will not 
be subject to the order of the Conference? 

A. No; he shall not. 

CLASS LEADERS. 

Q. How shall class leaders be elected? 
A. (( Annually by the members of their respective 
classes." 

Q. In case a class shall neglect or refuse to elect a 
leader, how shall one be appointed? 

A. In that case "it shall be the duty of the pastor to ap- 
point a leader for said class/' 

CONFERENCE STEWARD. 

Q. By whom shall the Conference steward be 
elected, and what shall be his duties? 

A. He "shall be elected by the Annual Conference, and 
shall discharge the duties assigned him by that body, and be 
amenable to it for his official conduct." 

STATION AND CIRCUIT STEWARDS. 

Q. How 7 shall station and circuit stewards be elected? 
A. "In the stations by the qualified members, including 
ministers and preachers; and in the circuits and missions by 



CATECHISM. 



201 



the Quarterly Conference; but every qualified member present 
shall be permitted to vote in the election of circuit stewards/' 

ARTICLE XII. 
SUFFRAGE AND ELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE. 

O. By whom is the right of suffrage and eligibility 
to office determined? 

A. Each Annual Conference shall decide this matter for 
itself. 

"The matter of suffrage and eligibility to office shall 
be left to the Annual Conferences respectively." 

O. Does eligibility to office here include the office 
of the ministry? 

A. No; it does not. 

The conditions necessary to a person's admission to 
the ministerial office are not left to the determination of 
each Annual Conference, but are specially pointed out 
in the Constitution and Discipline (Constitution, Art. 
YL, item 2; Dis., under head Quarterly Conferences, 
item 3). 

0. Is the right of the Annual Conference in deter- 
mining the matter of suffrage and eligibility to office 
within its own bounds conditioned? 

A. It is. 

1. It is provided that each Annual Conference shall 
be entitled to representation in the same ratio — one min- 
isterial and one lay representative for each two thousand 
members — in the General Conference, and no action that 
anv Conference may take on the right of suffrage and 
eligibility to office shall change this ratio. One Confer- 
ence may recognize the right of all its members to vote 
and hold office, and another Conference may recognize 
the right of only a certain class of its members to do so, 
but the representation of each of these Conferences shall 
be based on the whole number of its members, and not 



202 



CATECHISM. 



on the number recognized as entitled to vote and hold j 
office. 

2. "No rule shall be passed which shall infringe the j 
right of suffrage and eligibility to office." This sounds 
very well, but what does it mean? When this article was 
adopted there was no general and uniform law of suffrage 
recognized by the church, nor did the convention adopt 
one. So there was no general law of suffrage and eligi- 
bility to office to be violated — no such law to be infringed 
upon or curtailed. If this language means anything, it 
must be that whatever right of suffrage and eligibility 
to office any Annual Conference then recognized, must \ 
not be infringed upon, violated, or curtailed in the future. 
It is doubtful, however, whether any definite idea at- 
tached to this sentence. It was felt by some, at least, 
that something had been surrendered, and the adoption 
of this general and inoperative declaration made it seem 
as if nothing had been given up. 

Q. Can the General Conference supervise or annul 
the action of an Annual Conference on the subject of 
suffrage and eligibility to office? 

A. No; it cannot. 

There is a provision in the Constitution (Art. VII, 
paragraph 3, item 1), declaring that "the General Con- 
ference shall have power to annul any rule or regulation 
which that body may deem unconstitutional." But as 
there is no provision in the Constitution on the subject 
of suffrage but that which turns the whole matter of suf- 
frage and eligibility to office over to the Annual Confer- 
ences respectively, the General Conference has no 
ground on which to base an action, so the action of the 
Annual Conference is final. 



CATECHISM. 



20J 



ARTICLE XIII. 

JUDICIARY PRINCIPLES. 

O. I. What offenses are sufficient to expose min- 
isters, preachers and members to expulsion from the 
church? 

A. 'All offenses condemned by the zi'ord of God, as suf- 
ficient to exclude a person from the kingdom of grace and 
glory, shall subject ministers, preachers, and members to ex- 
pulsion from the chucrh!' 

O. 2. What will subject a person to admonition, 
and if persisted in, to expulsion? 

A. "The neglect of duties required by the word of God, 
or the indulgence in sinful words and tempers, shall subject 
the offender to admonition; and if persisted in after repeated 
admonitions, to expulsion/' 

O. 3. What is the penalty attached to the dissemi- 
nation of unscriptural doctrines, affecting the essential 
interests of the Christian system? 

A. Admonition, and, if incorrigible, expulsion. 

O. May a person be expelled from the church for 
expressing his opinion? 

A. "No minister, preacher, or "member shall be expelled 
for disseminating matters of opinion alone, except they be 
such as are condemned by the word of God." 

The Methodist Protestant Church recognizes the 
word of God as the supreme law of the church — "the on- 
ly sufficient rule of faith and practice." Persons can only 
be expelled from the church for "'offences condemned by 
the word of God as sufficient to exclude a person from 
• the kingdom of grace and glory." But who determines 
what offenses are such? It is determined in the case of 
accused itinerant ministers by the committee of trial, 
with the privilege of an appeal to the Annual Confer- 
ence; in the case of local ministers, preachers, and pri- 
vate members, by the committee of trial, with the priv- 



204 



CATECHISM. 



ilege of an appeal to the Quarterly Conference. So, in 
the former case, the final decision is by the Annual Con- 
ference, and in the latter by the Quarterly Conference. 
One Annual or Quarterly Conference may decide a case 
one way, and another Annual or Quarterly Conference 
may decide a similar case in the very opposite, but there 
is no appeal from the decision of either. In this way the 
right of private judgment is maintained, and the possi- 
bility of involving the whole church in a heresy contro- 
versy is avoided. All such questions are localized and 
confined to a single church, or charge, or to an indi- 
vidual Annual Conference. The whole church can never 
be officially involved, like some sister churches, in a great 
heresy controversy. 

Q. 4. To what shall officers of the church be liable 
for maladministration and neglect of Christian duty? 

A. "All officers of the church shall be liable to removal 
from office for maladministration, and the neglect of official 
duties/' 

ARTICLE XIV. 
PRIVILEGES OF ACCUSED MINISTERS AND 
MEMBERS. 

Q. 1. In case of accusation, must the accused be fur- 
nished with a copy of the charges and specifications? 
A. Yes; he must. 

"In all cases of accusation against a minister, preach- 
er, or member, the accused shall be furnished by the 
pastor, or, in his absence, by any other minister belong- 
ing to the circuit or station whom the pastor may select, 
with a copy of the charges and specifications." 

O. How long must this be before the trial? 

A. At least twenty days before the time appointed for 
the trial; unless the parties concerned prefer going into trial 
sooner. 33 



CATECHISM. 



205 



O. What rights shall the accused have in the trial? 

A. "The accused shall have the right of challenge; the 
privilege of examining witnesses at the time of trial; and of 
making his defense in person or by representative; provided 
such representative be a member of the Methodist Protestant 
Church/' 

O. 2. Can a minister or preacher be expelled from 
the church without an impartial trial? 
A. No; he cannot. 

"No minister or preacher shall be expelled, or de- 
prived of church privileges or ministerial functions, 
without an impartial trial before a committee — if a min- 
ister, of from three to five ministers; if a preacher, of from 
three to five ministers or preachers — and the right of ap- 
peal; the unstationed preachers, to the ensuing Quarterly 
Conference; the ministers and itinerant preachers, to the 
ensuing Annual Conference." 

O. 3. How may members be expelled or deprived 
of church privileges? 

A. By an impartial trial. 

"No member shall be expelled or deprived of church 
privileges without an impartial trial before a committee 
of three or more lay members, or, if on a circuit, before 
the society of which he is a member, as the accused may 
require, and the right of an appeal to the ensuing Quar- 
terly Conference." 

O. May any one who sat on the first trial sit on the 
appeal? 

A. "No man zvho shall have sat on the nrst trial shall 
sit on the appeal; and all appeals shall be final" 

Q. How may persons whose names are on the 
church register, and who can not be found, or who have 
ceased to take an interest in the church, be dealt with? 

A. Their names e( may be dropped from the record by a 
vote of the church; provided, further, that in stations these 
changes may be made by the Quarterly Conference." 



206 



CATECHISM. 



This provision must be interpreted so as to harmon- 
ize with the preceding one, which declares that no mem- 
ber shall be deprived of church privileges without an 
impartial trial by a committee. In the case of persons 
who cannot be found, there can be no trouble; but persons 
who can be found, and whose names have been dropped 
from the record, should be informed of the fact, and if 
they acquiesce in the action of the church, it will be a 
voluntary relinquishment of their right to a trial by com- 
mittee. But if they do not acquiesce in the action of 
the church, their names must be restored to the record, 
and they must either prove themselves worthy of mem- 
bership, or submit to a regular trial. 

O. 4. May a minister or preacher who has been 
suspended by a committee, and who has appealed from 
its decision, perform the duties of his office while his 
appeal is pending? 

A. No; he may not. 

"No minister or preacher who may have been sus- 
pended by a committee, and who has appealed from its 
decision, shall perform any of the duties of his office 
while his appeal is pending/' 

Q. May the accuser, or any one who served on the 
committee, vote on the appeal? 

A. No. 

"No person who sat on the committee, or who was 
the accuser, shall vote on the appeal." 

Q. When a charge of unfaithfulness to the interests 
of the church is preferred, when shall the trial take 
place? 

A. "Within twenty days from the time the charge was 
preferred! 1 



CATECHISM. 



20J 



ARTICLE XV. 
DISCIPLINE JUDICIARY. 

Q. i. Who may officially call for a judicial de- 
cision on any rule or act of the General Conference? 

A. A majority of all the Annual Conferences may of- 
ficially call for such a decision. 

Q. When such a call has been made, what shall then 
be the duty of each and every Annual Conference? 

A. "To appoint at its next session, tzvo judicial dele- 
gates, one minister and one layman, hazing the same quali- 
fications of eligibility as are required for representatives to 
the General Conference. 

O. Where and when shall these delegates meet? 

A. "At the place ivhere the General Conference held 
its last session, on the third Friday in May, following their 
appointment/' 

Q. 2. How many of these delegates shall constitute 
a quorum? 

A. A majority of them. 

O. By what vote may an act of the General Confer- 
ence be declared unconstitutional? 
A. By a -vote of two-thirds. 

"If two-thirds of all present judge said rule or act of 
the General Conference unconstitutional, they shall have 
power to declare the same null and void." 

Q. 3. How shall the decision of the judiciary be 
made? 

A. In writing. 

"Every decision of the judiciary, with the reasons 
thereof, shall be made in writing, and shall be published 
in the periodicals belonging to the church." 

O. When the judiciary shall have performed the du- 
ties assigned them, shall their powers cease? 

A. Yes. 



208 CATECHISM. 

"After the judiciary shall have performed the duties 
assigned them by this Constitution, their powers shall 
cease, and no other judiciary shall be created until after 
the session of the succeeding General Conference." 

ARTICLE XVI. 
SPECIAL CALL OF THE GENERAL CONFER- 
ENCE. 

Q. i. Who shall have power to call special meet- 
ings of the General Conference? 

A. "Two-thirds of the whole number of the Annual 
Conferences shall have power to call special meetings of the 
General Conference" 

O. 2. Flow shall the time and place of holding a 
special session of the General Conference be fixed? 

A. "When it shall have been ascertained that two-thirds 
of the Annual Conferences have decided in favor of such 
call, it shall be the duty of the Presidents, or a majority of 
them, forthwith to designate the time and place of holding 
the same, and to give due notice to all stations, circuits and 
missions. 

ARTICLE XVII. 
PROVISIONS FOR ALTERING THE CONSTITU- 
TION. 

Q. i. How may alterations in the Constitution be 
effected? 

A. "Alterations in tins Constitution may be effected by 
means of overtures, submitted by the General Conference, and 
confirmed by two-thirds of the Annual Conferences." 

O. 2. How shall changes thus effected be made 
known and become operative? 

A. "When a change in the Constitution has been so re- 
commended, the Annual Conferences shall officially certify 



CATECHISM. 



their action on the same to the President of the General Con- 
ference, who, when two-thirds of the Annual Conferences 
shall have certified their affirmative action, shall announce the 
fact in the official papers, and the change so made in the Con- 
stitution shall be in full force and effect from that time, and 
shall be entered in the Book of Discipline by the Committee 
on Publication" 

CHRISTIAN DUTIES. 

Q. Are the suggestions from the General Rules of 
John and Charles Wesley, inserted in the Discipline, of 
legal, binding force? 

A. No; they are only "commended to the serious atten- 
tion of the members of the Methodist Protestant Church" 

ADMISSION TO MEMBERSHIP. 

Q. I. To whom must application for membership 
be made? 

A. ({ Application for admission to membership in any 
station, circuit or mission, must be made to the pastor, the 
associate, or the supernumerary associate, and in their ab- 
sence to any other minister, preacher, or leader officiating;, 
whose duty it shall be to report the name or names of appli- 
cants to the pastor, to be by him entered on the list of proba- 
tioners" 

O. Has any member a right to object to the pastor 
entering the name of a person on the list of probationers? 
A. Yes; any one may object. 
O. What, then, shall be done? 

A. "In the event of an objection being made by any per- 
son \presamably a member of the church] present, the matter 
shall be referred to a called or regularly occurring meeting of 
the church." 

It is evident that the names of all persons applying 
for membership must be reported by the pastor to the 



2IO 



CATECHISM. 



church before he can enter them on the list of probation- 
ers. 

Q. Beyond the bounds of stations and circuits, to 
whom may application be made for membership? 

A. "To any minister, preacher, or leader of our church:' 

O. How are persons received into full membership? 

A. "On an application for full membership, a vote of th? 
church shall be taken'' 

Some pastors, without a vote of the church, are in the 
habit of declaring applicants full members of the church; 
others are in the habit of presenting the names of several 
persons for membership at once, and taking a vote on 
their reception together. Both these practices are wrong. 
The law evidently contemplates a separate vote in the 
case of each applicant. 

Q. 2. What relation do the children of our mem- 
bers sustain to our church? 

A. That of candidates for membership. 

"The children of the members of our church shall 
be under pastoral care and instruction, with a view to 
their admission into full membership; and they shall be 
received into full membership, on application, if the 
church is satisfied with their spiritual experience/' 

The baptism of children is here omitted, as in Section 
3, Art. II., of the Constitution. The observance of this 
ordinance should be recognized here; and if parents for 
any cause neglect or refuse to have their infant children 
baptised, the observance of the ordinance should be re- 
quired prior to their admission to full membership. This 
item of Discipline should, therefore, be amended so as to 
read, "And they shall, after baptism, if not previously 
baptised, be received," etc. This would be nothing more 
than to observe and honor a solemn ordinance instituted 
by Christ himself. Whatever excuse there may be for 
neglecting human requirements, surely there can be none 
for ignoring a divine institution! 



CATECHISM. 



211 



ADMINISTRATIVE RULES. 

JUDICIAL REGULATIONS.— TRIAL OF MIN- 
ISTERS, PREACHERS, AND MEMBERS. 

Q. When any member of the church is reported to 
the pastor as walking disorderly, what shall he do? 

A. "He, in connection with the advisory committee, shall 
make inquiry respecting the truth of the report, and if they 
are satisfied that the person accused is by his conduct bring- 
ing a reproach upon the church, the pastor, by the advice of 
the committee, shall admonish the offender to repent. If the 
person admonished bring forth fruits meet for repentance, 
no further notice shall be taken of the case; but if lie persist 
in his sinful conduct, after repeated admonitions, the com- 
mittce shall then prefer charges, and proceed according to the 
directions contained in the sections following" 

O. i. When a charge of any offense recognized 
by the thirteenth article of the Constitution, is preferred 
against a minister or preacher, what course shall be pur- 
sued? 

A. "The pastor, or, in his absence, any other minister be- 
longing to the station or circuit lie may select, after duly noti- 
fying the person accused, shall appoint a committee of not less 
than three nor more than five ministers or preachers, before 
whom the accused shall appear, at the time and place desig- 
nated for trial, which shall be in the neighborhood in which 
the o ffence is alleged to have been committed, or as near there- 
to as may be convenient" 

O. Has both the accused and prosecutor the right 
to object to any member of the committee for cause? 

A. They have. 

"The accused, as well as the prosecutor, may object 
to any member cf the committee on account of his hav- 
ing prejudged the case, being prejudiced against accused, 
or of being interested in the decision/' 



212 



CATECHISM. 



Q. What restriction is placed on the pastor or ex- 
ecutive officer in selecting the committee? 

A. He "shall he confined to the limits of the district in 
his selection of ministers or preachers to serve on the commit- 
tee." 

Q. May the ministers, preachers, and members at- 
tend the trial? 

A. They may. 

The preceding regulations apply to the trial of min- 
isters and preachers who are not under the stationing 
authority of the Annual Conference, 

Q. 2. How shall class leaders, stewards, trustees, 
exhorters, and private members be tried? 

A. By a committee. 

'The pastor, who shall preside on the trial, or, in his 
absence from the station or circuit, any other minister 
or preacher the church may name (who shall report in 
due form the entire proceedings in the case to the pas- 
tor), shall appoint two persons in full membership and 
good standing, over the age of twenty-one years. The 
church of which the accused is a member shall elect two 
more in like standing, and these four persons, when 
chosen, shall select a fifth, which five shall constitute a 
competent court of trial; provided, where five cannot be 
obtained in any church, three male members appointed 
on the principle above shall suffice. And where this 
number of male members cannot be obtained in any 
church, the officiating minister or preacher, by consent 
of the church of which the accused is a member, may 
summon members from an adjoining church." 

From this it appears that the members of the com- 
mittee must be "male members. 7 ' Women can not serve 
on it. 

O. Shall the accused have the right of challenge? 
A. Yes. 



CATECHISM. 213 

"The accused shall have the right to challenge any 
number, not exceeding that of the original committee." 

O. In case written testimony is to be taken, what 
must be done? 

A. In all cases where zvritten testimony is to be taken, 
due notice thereof shall be given to the opposite party of the 
time and place of taking such testimony in view of cross- 
examination:' 

Q. Shall this provision likewise apply to ministers 
and preachers? 
A. It shall. 

Q. Who shall be judge of all questions of law that 
may arise in the case? 

A. The presiding officer. 

Q. 3. Shall a record be made of the evidence and 
proceedings of the trial? 
A. Yes. 

"A secretary shall be appointed by the committee to 
take down regular minutes of the evidence and proceed- 
ings of the trial; which, together with a copy of the de- 
cision, and all other documents belonging to the trial, 
shall be preserved by the pastor, who shall furnish each 
of the parties with a copy of the decision, if required. " 

O. 4. If the accused be found guilty, who shall 
name the penalty? 

A. The committee. 

"If the accused be found guilty of the offence, the 
committee, or a majority thereof, shall, in their decision, 
name the penalty to which the accused shall be sub- 
jected." 

Q. By whom shall the decision of the committee be 
carried into effect? 

A. "The President or pastor shall carry it into effect." 
O. Is the committee restricted in their finding? 
A. Yes. 



214 



CATECHISM, 



"No higher penalty shall be inflicted for maladmin- 
istration, or neglect of official duty, than removal from 
office." 

Q. When this penalty is imposed, may the person 
so removed fill the same office again? 

A. No; not without the approbation of the Quarterly 
or Annual Conference having jurisdiction " 

Q. 5. May an appeal be taken by the condemned 
person from the finding of the committee? 

A. Yes. 

"In every instance of condemnation the accused 
minister, preacher, or member, determining to appeal 
from the decision of the committee, shall signify in writ- 
ing to the executive minister, within twenty days after 
the close of the trial, his determination to appeal, and in 
default thereof his appeal shall not lie." 

O. 6. If an accused minister, preacher, or member 
evade trial after due notice, what course shall be pur- 
sued? 

A. The trial shall, nevertheless, proceed. 

"If an accused minister, preacher, or member evade 
trial by absenting himself, after due notice shall have 
been given him, the investigation before the committee 
shall, nevertheless, be instituted, and the testimony 
heard; and if a majority of the committee find him guilty 
of the charge or charges, the executive minister shall 
carry the sentence into effect." 

O. 7. In case the accused person be the pastor, 
or other itinerant minister not answerable to a Quarterly 
Conference, by whom shall the official notifications, ap- 
pointment of committee, and similar duties be per- 
formed? 

A. "By the President of the district, or such other min- 
ister as he may appoint for the purpose/' 



CATECHISM. 



O. Who shall preside over the committee of trial? 

A. The President "shall preside as chairman, if pres- 
ent, preserve order, and regulate the proceedings according 
to the rules of the Discipline. If absent, the minister whom 
he may appoint as his proxy shall preside/' 

O. In case of the trial of a preacher on charges of 
immorality, to whom is he ultimately responsible? 

A. To the Quarterly Conference of which he is a member. 

That is "the body to which he shall be amenable for 
his moral conduct." A preacher, who is a probationary 
member of an Annual Conference, is also a member of a 
Quarterly Conference, and to the latter body he is ulti- 
mately, in case of appeal, accountable for his moral con- 
duct, the Annual Conference taking cognizance only of 
his official acts; hence "the judgment of the Annual Con- 
ference can affect his relation to that body only." 

O. 8. In case of personal offence between breth- 
ren, what course shall be pursued? 

A. In that case the direction of our Lord in Matthew 
18:15-17, shall be pursued. 

''Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, 
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; 
if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 

"But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one 
or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word may be established. 

"And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the 
church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him 
be unto thee as a heathen and a publican." 

Q. In default of pursuing the above course, in case 
of personal offence, can a charge be entertained against 
a brother? 

A. No, it cannot. 



2l6 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 9. In case of any dispute between two or more 
members of the church concerning the payment of debts 
or otherwise, which cannot be settled by the parties con- 
cerned, what course shall be pursued? 

A. "The pastor shall recommend to the contending par- 
tics a reference, consisting of one arbiter chosen by the plain- 
tiff and another by the defendant; the two arbiters to choose 
a third, a majority of zvhom shall decide the case." 

Q. 10. In case any minister, preacher, or member 
of the church fails in business, and applies for the benefit 
of any of the insolvent laws, or makes an assignment 
or transfer of his property, and there is reason to believe 
that he has been guilty of dishonesty, or if he requires an 
investigation, what shall be done? 

A. (( A committee shall be appointed as in other cases; 
and if there be evidence to said committee that there has been 
intentional fraud, the said minister, preacher, or member 
shall be dealt with as in other cases of charges of immorality. 
Where it shall appear to the committee of inquiry that there 
is no proper ground of censure, the committee shall furnish 
a certificate of honorable acquittal." 

It will be observed that the committee here spoken 
of is not a committee of trial, but a committee of inquiry, 
and has something like grand jury powers, either to ig- 
nore the charge, or to find a true bill. 

TRIAL OF CHURCHES. 

Q. When any church shall, by any official act or 
declaration, evince a determination not to conform to 
the provisions of the Constitution and Discipline, what 
shall be the duty of the pastor? 

A. "It shall be the duty of the pastor, or if there be no 
pastor, any minister the Quarterly Conference may appoint, 
to make every reasonable and proper effort to induce said 
church to conform; but if those efforts prove unavailing, the 
pastor, or minister appointed by the Quarterly Conference, 



CATECHISM. 



2IJ 



shall nominate a committee of five male members, over the 
age of twenty-one years, neither of whom shall be a mem- 
ber of the accused church, but of some other church or 
churches in the circuit of which the accused is a component 
part; or of some adjoining circuit, who shall meet at the 
place zvhere said church holds its regular worship, and shall 
constitute a competent court of trial" 

O. What rights shall the accused church have on 
the trial? 

A. It shall have the right, by its representative, "to chal- 
lenge any number not exceeding that of the committee, and 
of appeal to the Quarterly Conference" This applies to cir- 
cuits. 

O. Who shall preside at the trial? 

A. The pastor, or the minister, appointed by the Quar- 
terly Conference. 

O. What shall the committee do? 

A. It "shall appoint a secretary, who shall take regular 
minutes" of the trial, "and convey the same to the Quarterly 
Conference in case of an appeal." 

O. What notice shall be given an accused church? 

A. "The accused church shall be furnished with a copy 
of the charges at least twenty days before the time of trial." 

O. In case any church be found guilty, and will not 
agree to conform, what then shall be done? 

A. "It shall be declared no longer in connection with the 
Methodist Protestant Church, and shall be erased from the 
plan of the circuit." 

O. If the accused church be a station, how shall 
the trial be conducted? 

A. "If the accused be a station, the President of the dis- 
trict shall conduct the trial as above, and said station or 
church shall have the right of challenge, and of appeal to 
the following Annual Conference." 



218 CATECHISM. 

GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 
QUARTERLY CONFERENCES. 

Q. i. Who shall call the Quarterly Conference to 

order, and preside? 

A. The pastor. 

"The Quarterly Conference shall be called to order 
by the pastor, if such there be, who shall preside." 

O. If the President of the district is present, who 
shall preside? 

A. The President. 

Q. In case neither pastor nor President be present, 
who shall preside? 

A. "The Quarterly Conference shall elect its own chair- 
man/' 

Q. Flow shall the Quarterly Conference be opened? 

A. "By reading a portion of the Scripture, and prayer/' 

Q. What shall the first Quarterly Conference do? 

A. It "shall elect a secretary, whose term of office shall 
continue until the election of his successor, the succeeding 
year." 

Q. What number shall constitute a quorum? 

A. "Any number of the officiary present at a duly called 
meeting shall constitute a quorum." 

O. 2. Should a charge of immorality, neglect of 
Christian duty, or of disseminating unscriptural doc- 
trines, be preferred against any member of the Confer- 
ence during the examination of official character, what 
course shall be pursued? 

A. "The accusation, together with the names of the 
accuser and witnesses, shall be referred to the proper au- 
thorities to be investigated in accordance with the provisions 
of the Constitution and the Discipline." 



CATECHISM. 



219 



O. When a case is so referred, who shall prosecute 
it? ~ 

A. "A prosecutor shall be appointed by the Conference 
in behalf of the church." 

Q. 3. What shall the first Quarterly Conference in 
each conference year do? 

A. J. "It shall elect a standing Advisory Committee 
of from three to five, who shall assist the pastor by their ad- 
vice and counsel in all important acts of his administration." 
2. (( It shall also appoint a committee of five, consisting of 
ministers and laymen, who shall constitute a committee of 
examination, to assist, advise, and examine candidates for 
the ministry." 

0. What shall be the duty of the Committee of Ex- 
amination? 

A. "It shall be the duty of the committee to see that can- 
didates pursue the course of reading prescribed by the com- 
mittee; to examine them occasionally on doctrines and re- 
ligious experience; and when they shall have made the neces- 
sary attainments, to give them a written testimonial of their 
qualifications." 

O. Is the committee restricted? 

A. It is. 

"No committee shall give a testimonial unless the 
candidate be a man of unexceptional moral character, 
genuine piety, and have respectable attainments, at least 
an ability to state and defend the leading doctrines of 
Christianity, and shall have passed a satisfactory exam- 
ination in English grammar and Binney's Compend." 

O. After the candidate has been licensed to preach, 
what shall he do? 

A. He shall continue under the inspection of the com- 
mittee, in view of his ordination." 

O. Can any one be licensed without due recom- 
mendation? 

A. No. 



220 



CATECHISM. 



"No person shall be licensed to preach except he 
present a testimonial from the Committee of Examina- 
tion/' 

0. What questions shall be put to each candidate? 

A. The following questions: 

1. "Have you faith in Christ, and are you striving 
to be holy in heart and in all manner of conversation ?" 
2. "Have you any other motive in requesting license 
to preach, than a desire to be instrumental in edifying 
the church of God, calling sinners to repentance, and 
saving your own soul and the souls of those that hear 
you?" 3. "Do you believe that the Holy Scriptures 
of the Old and New Testaments contain all things neces- 
sary to salvation?" 4. "Have you examined our Con- 
stitution and Discipline, and Articles of Religion," and 
"do you approve of them, and are you willing to comply 
with their requirements?" 5. "Are you solvent?" 

O. 4. When shall the pastor's salary be fixed? 

A. The last Quarterly Conference shall fix the pastor's 
salary, and apportion the same to the several churches. 

Q. When, and bv whom, shall the stewards be elect- 
ed?' 

A. The last Quarterly Conference shall <c clcct not less 
than three stewards. All the qualified members of the 
church present shall have the right to vole in the election of 
steward!' This refers to circuits. 

O. 5. Who shall determine the place and time of 
holding the succeeding Quarterly Conference? 

A. The Conference shall fix the place, and the pastor 
the time. 

Q. How long previously must notice of the Quar- 
terly Conference be given? 

A. The pastor shall "give public notice from all the 
pulpits, at least four weeks prior to the meeting of the Con- 
ference in a circuit, and two weeks in a station or mission." 



CATECHISM. 



221 



0. When there is no pastor, who may call the 
Quarterly Conference? 
A. The stewards. 

O. 6. In all appeals brought before the Quarterly 
Conference, what order shall be observed? 

A. "The same order shall be observed, and the same 
privileges accorded to the appellant and accuser as are grant- 
ed in appeals before the Annual Conference'' 

Q. 7. What authority shall the Quarterly Confer- 
ence have? 

A. "In conjunction with the pastor it shall have au- 
thority to receive ministers and preachers from other denomi- 
nations, on satisfactory testimonials/' 

Q. 8. Has the Quarterly Conference supervisory 
authority over the Sabbath-schools belonging to the 
charge? 

A. It has. 

"Each Quarterly Conference shall have supervisory 
authority over all the Sabbath-schools belonging to the 
station, circuit, or mission; to require that our own papers 
and lesson-helps be used: to provide that officers and 
teachers chosen be suitable persons in Christian experi- 
ence, character and doctrinal belief; and to secure the 
observance of such missionary, college, and other an- 
niversary days for making offerings, in support of the 
general interests of the church, as the General Confer- 
ence may fix or order; and the respective superintend- 
ents thereof shall be elected by the Sabbath-school offi- 
cers and teachers after notice from the pulpit; provided, 
that every qualified member of the church shall have the 
privilege of voting, if present." 

Q. 9. How are trustees of parsonages elected? 

A. "In every case where a parsonage belongs to a sta- 
tion or circuit, the Quarterly Conference shall have authority 
to elect, or cause to be elected, trustees thereof, in accordance 
ivtih the statute laws of the State, to hold said property for 
the benefit of such charge." 



222 CATECHISM. 

O. 10. How shall appointments be dropped? 

A. By the last Quarterly Conference. 

"No appointment shall be dropped from a circuit ex- 
cept at the last Quarterly Conference. Provided, that 
said action shall not take effect until ratified by the An- 
nual Conference." 

O. ii. What order of business is recommended to 
Quarterly Conferences? 

A. The follozving: 

"When the Conference shall have been organized, 
the list of members shall be called over by the secretary, 
noting those present and absent; then he shall read the 
minutes, after which the chairman shall present the fol- 
lowing questions and items: 

"(!,) Are there any objections to any members of the 
Quarterly Conference? 

"(2.) Are there appeals pending? 

"(3.). Are there any applications for license to exhort, 
or to renew? or for license to preach, or to renew? 

"(4.) Are there any to be recommended for orders? 
or to serve under the stationing authority of the Annual 
Conference? 

"(5.) Are there any applications from ministers or 
preachers to become members of this Quarterly Con- 
ference? 

"(6.) Are there any changes in the time and place of 
preaching? 

"(7.) Are there any additions to, or corrections of, 
the register to be made? 

"(8.) Of whom shall your advisory committee con- 
sist? 

"(9.) Of whom shall your committee on examination 
consist? 

"(10.) Where will your next quarterly meeting be? 



CATECHISM. 22 j 

"(ii.) What shall the pastors salary be? 

"(i2.) Is there any incidental business? 

"(13.) What have the stewards to report? 

"(14.) Has the advisory committee anything to sug- 
gest to the pastor that will tend to assist him, or make 
him more useful? 

"(15.) Has the pastor anything in this regard to sug- 
gest to the Quarterly Conference? 

"(16.) When and where will you have your lovefeast? 

12. ''Candidates for license to preach will be required 
to pass a satisfactory examination in English Grammar, 
General History, Doctrines of the Bible, and the His- 
tory and Polity of the [Methodist Protestant Church." 

ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 

O. 1. By whom shall the Conference be called to 
order? 

A. "By the President of the preceding year, who shall 
open it with religious services, and preside until the election 
of his successor!' 

Q, If the President is absent, who shall direct the 
religious services? 

A. The Secretary. 

Q. In the absence of both the President and Secre- 
tary, what shall be done? 

A. { A President and Secretary pro tempore shall be 
elected, to serve until the Conference shall elect permanent 
officers, who shall serve until their successors are elected!' 

O. 2. Who shall judge of election returns and 
qualifications of the delegates? 

A. The Conference. 

O. What number of members shall constitute a quo- 
rum? 

A. A majority of the members in attendance. 



224- 



CATECHISM. 



O. 3. Should a charge of immorality be preferred 
against any ministerial member of the Conference, dur- 
ing the examination of character, and if the Conference 
see sufficient reason to justify it, what shall be done? 

A. "The accusation, together with the names of the 
accuser and witnesses, shall be referred to the President of 
the Conference, to be investigated by committee, in the pas- 
toral charge where the supposed offence is alleged to have 
been committed, or as near thereto as may be convenient." 

O. Who shall prosecute the case? 

A. "The Conference shall appoint a prosecutor in behalf 
of the church." 

Q. Who shall provide for the expense of the trial? 

A. "The Annual Conferences, respectively, shall pro- 
vide for the payment of any expenses incurred in bringing 
committees from a distance to take part in judicial investiga- 
tions." 

Q. 4. What is necessary to render a minister or 
preacher eligible to membership in an Annual Confer- 
ence? 

A. He "must have a written recommendation from a 
Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
or a certificate from some other Annual Conference, or the 
President thereof." 

O. Can a minister be placed on the supernumerary 
or superannuated list without a vote of the Conference? 

A. No. 

"No minister shall be placed on the supernumerary 
or superannuated list except by vote of the Annual Con- 
ference." 

O. Shall any minister be recognized as belonging to 
our connection whose name is not recorded on the list 
of some Quarterly or Annual Conference? 

A. No. 

No minister shall "be recognized as belonging to 
our fellowship whose name is not recorded on the list of 



CATECHISM. 



some Quarterly or Annual Conference, to which he is 
amenable, or who does not hold a valid certificate of legal 
transfer," 

O. How may a person who has been a student un- 
der the charge of one of the committees of examination 
of the Board of Ministerial Education be received by an 
Annual Conference? 

A. No Annual Conference shall receive such a student 
"without a testimonial of honorable dismissal from the com- 
mittee" 

O. * 5. Can a Conference withhold a testimonial of 
character? 

A. No; it cannot. 

"No Conference shall have power to withhold a tes- 
timonial, if the minister requiring it shall have complied 
with his engagements, and his moral character stands 
fair/' 

O. 6. Can a Conference or President be obliged to 
employ a minister or preacher who cannot be employed 
to advantage? 

A. No. 

"No Conference or President shall be obliged to em- 
ploy any person as pastor or missionary, unless his lab- 
ors can be profitably directed.'' 

O. 7. Are ministers received by the President 
during the interval of Conference subject to a vote? 

A. They are. 

"Every minister received by the President in the 
interval of Conference, shall be subject to a vote of the 
Conference before his name can be printed in the minutes 
as a stationed minister.' 1 

O. 8. How may ministers laboring under the di- 
rection of the Conference be transferred to another dis- 
trict? 

A. By negotiations between the Presidents of said dis- 
tricts. 



226 



CATECHISM. 



''Ministers laboring under the direction of the Confer- 
ence may be transferred from one district to another, 
by negotiations between the Presidents of said districts; 
provided, the minister consents to the transfer; and, 
provided, the instrument have the signature of both 
Presidents; and, provided, also, that it be presented to 
the Annual Conference to which the minister is to be 
transferred before it shall have closed its session next 
following the date of the transfer, otherwise it shall not 
be valid." 

Q. Does a transfer so signed make a minister a 
member of an Annual Conference? 

A. It does not. 

"A transfer, though signed by the President as re- 
quired in this section, does not make a minister a mem- 
ber of an Annual Conference without the affirmative vote 
of the Conference." 

O. When a transfer is made for a period not ex- 
ceeding three years, how shall it be regarded? 
A. It "shall be viewed as temporary" 

Q. If a minister return to his own Conference be- 
fore or at the time specified, to what shall he be entitled? 

A. "He shall, if his moral character stand fair, be again 
admitted to membership, and shall be entitled to all the privi- 
leges and claims he would have possessed had be not been thus 
transferred " 

O. To whom shall ministers holding transfers be 

responsible? 

A. To the authorities of the Conference giving such 
transfer, until the transfer shall receive the signature of the 
President of the Conference to which he designs to make ap- 
plication." 

O. 9. Hay ministers coming from other denom- 
inations be received and employed by the Annual Con- 
ference? 



CATECHISM, 



22J 



A. They may, "provided, they present suitable testimo- 
nials of good standing; and, provided, also, the Conference 
shall be satisfied with the faith, Christian experience and 
qualifications of the applicant" 

O. May a minister retire from the service of the 
Conference and be received back again without a recom- 
mendation from a Quarterly Conference? 

A. He may, "if he makes the application within three 
years; provided his moral character stands fair" 

Q. May an Annual Conference leave a minister 
without an appointment at his own request? 

A. It may. 

Q. When a minister is so left, shall he be entitled 
to a seat in the Quarterly Conference where he resides? 

A. "He may be entitled to a seat in the Quarterly Con- 
ference where he resides, but shall be ultimately responsible 
to the Annual Conference." 

This language is obscure, and does not clearly ex- 
press what is intended. To express clearly what is in- 
tended, it should read, "He may be admitted by vote to 
a seat in the Quarterly Conference," etc. A person seek- 
ing admission to a church, or a Quarterly Conference, 
or an Annual Conference, can only be admitted by a vote 
of the body to which he applies. See Constitution, Art. 
Ill, section 3. 

Q. May a superannuated minister have a seat in 
the Quarterly Conference? 

A. Yes; on the same condition as above. 

Q. Does this rule apply to editors, book agents, 
presidents of colleges, professors, etc.? 

A. It does, "as well those living beyond the bounds of 
their Annual Conferences as those living within the bounds 
thereof " 



228 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 10. May a minister or a preacher who has been 
rejected by an Annual Conference, be employed by its 
President? 

A. He may not. 

"No minister or preacher who shall have been re- 
jected by an Annual Conference, shall be employed by its 
President, unless the Conference grant him permission 
under specific conditions." 

Q. it. When are preachers eligible to Elder's 

orders? 

A. "Every preacher shall be eligible to Elder's orders 
after he shall have preached three years under a license, 
one year of which shall have been as a licentiate in this 
church." 

O. Must all applicants first undergo an examina- 
tion? 

A. Yes. 

"No applicant shall be elected to orders who shall 
not first undergo an examination by the Committee on 
Orders appointed by the Annual Conference." 

O. May an applicant be elected to orders who does 
not attend the Annual Conference? 

A. He may, under certain circumstances. 

"When it is impracticable for the applicant to attend, 
of which the Annual Conference shall judge, the An- 
nual Conference may appoint a committee of examina- 
tion," of which the President shall be chairman, "upon 
whose recommendation he may be elected by the Annual 
Conference [at its next session], and ordained in the in- 
terval of the Annual Conference." 

Q. 12. Is there any exception made in the case of 
missions and similar necessities? 

A. There is. 

"In cases of missions and similar necessities, preach- 
ers may be elected to elder's orders, without regard to 



CATECHISM. 



229 



time; provided they possess the requisite qualifications/' 

O. 13. What qualifications must a man have to be 
eligible to orders? 

A. He must "be a man of unexceptionable moral char- 
acter, genuine piety, respectable attainments, and sound in the 
belief of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and faith- 
ful in the discharge of Gospel duties:' 

O. 14. What authority shall the elders only have? 

A. "The elders only shall have authority to administer 
the Lord's Supper, baptize, and celebrate matrimony:' 

Q. May they celebrate the marriage of divorced 
persons? 

A. "They si tall not celebrate the marriage of divorced 
persons who have violated their marriage vows/' 

Q. 15. By whom shall ordination be performed? 

A. "By the President, assisted by one or more elders." 

0. 16. When necessary, may the President's place 
in the ordination service be supplied? 

A. It may. 

"When circumstances make it necessary, the Annual 
Conference may supply the place of the President in or- 
dinations, by substituting any other elder in his stead." 

O. 17. In case of appeal from the decision of the 
committee of trial, what privilege is accorded the ap- 
pellant? 

A. He "shall be permitted to appear before the Confer- 
ence and state the reasons of his appeal." 

O. If the Conference shall decide that his appeal 
is valid, what then shall be done? 

A. "Then all the documents belonging to the trial had 
before the committee shall be read, after which the accuser 
shall be permitted to support his charges in the presence of the 
appellant. The appellant may in turn make his rebly, which 
shall close the proceedings on both sides, unless the Conference 



2JO 



CATECHISM. 



grant the accuser permission to speak the second time. The 
appellant and accuser shall then retire, and the Conference 
shall decide, and furnish the appellant with a copy of the 
decision/' 

Q. In all trials on appeals, may the court go beyond 
the record of the court below? 

A. No; it may not. 

"The court shall not go beyond the record of the 
court below, but shall decide in view of the pleadings 
and evidence therein contained." 

Q. Is there any exception to this rule? 

A. There is. 

When "the accused shall have given notice, at the 
time he signified his intention to appeal, that he should 
request the upper court to open the whole merits of the 
case, when new testimony may be introduced, and the 
court shall give its own and final decision in the case." 

This is virtually a new trial, and without appeal. 

Q. When the appeal is tried on the record of the 
court below, w 7 hat must the decision be? 

A. ''The decision shall acquit the accused, or confirm 
the judgment rendered below, or order a new trial.'' 

O. Shall these rules apply to appeals to Quarterly 
Conferences? 

A. They shall. 

Q. 1 8. When and how may stations and circuits 

be divided? 

A. ee No station or circuit shall be divided, unless each 
part has ability to support one or more preachers," and "the 
delegate or delegates from the station or circuit assent to the 
division." 

O. 19. May the Conference give work to incom- 
petent men? 
A. No. 



CATECHISM. 



231 



"In stationing the ministers and preachers, the Annual 
Conference shall not give an appointment to any man 
who, in the opinion of a majority of the members, is in- 
competent to perform the duties thereof, or who, they 
may believe, will neglect the appointment." 

O. What mav be done with such minister or preach- 
er? ' 

A. He may be, by the Conference, transferred to the 
unstationed list. 

O. Shall any minister entitled to a superannuated 
relation be transferred to the unstationed list? 

A. No; he shall not. 

"No minister who, in the judgment of the Conference, 
is entitled to a superannuated relation, shall be so trans- 
ferred." 

O. 20. How long may a minister in good health 
be left without work? 

A. Not more than tzuo years. 

"No minister, in good health, shall be left without 
regular ministerial work for more than two years in suc- 
cession. At the end of that time he shall resume his 
itinerant labors, or be transferred to the unstationed list." 

Conferences often violate the spirit of this law by giv- 
ing ministers who refuse to take regular work, some 
nominal appointment, thus retaining them in the Con- 
ference. 

O. Shall a minister transferred to the unstationed 
list receive a certificate of his standing? 
A. He shall. 

"This rule shall apply to all ministers so transferred." 

O. 21. May a minister or preacher cease from the 
labor assigned him by the stationing authority? 

A. No; not "until his term of service shall have ex- 
pired, except by consent of the President, for reasons by him 
deemed sufficient! 3 



2J2 



CATECHISM. 



A minister who is appointed by an Annual Confer- 
ence to a pastoral charge, remains pastor of that charge, 
unless released by the President, until the Conference 
adopts another plan of appointment, by which he is 
either continued in his pastoral charge, or removed to 
another. His official acts, as pastor, are, therefore, legal 
until the Conference adopts a new plan of appointments. 
Hence, except by action of the Conference, the charges 
are never without legal pastors, nor the ministers without 
charges. 

Q. Is each Annual Conference required to cause 
each charge to report its statistics annually? 
A. It is. 

. 22. "Each Annual Conference shall cause the fol- 
lowing statistics to be reported from the various charges 
each year, viz: Number of ministers and preachers sta- 
tioned and unstationed; number of members; number of 
probationers; number received during the year; number 
deceased; number withdrawn; number removed; number 
discontinued; number of increase or decrease (as the 
case may be) in the membership during the year; num- 
ber and value of church edifices and parsonages; num- 
ber of church periodicals taken; number of Sabbath- 
schools, teachers, and scholars; number of conversions; 
number of volumes in Sabbath-school library; amounts 
paid for benevolent purposes; the names of unstationed 
ministers and preachers should also be registered and 
published in the minutes of the Conference within whose 
bounds they hold their membership." 

O. Shall the minutes of the Conference be pub- 
lished? 
A. Yes. 

'The full minutes may be published in pamphlet 
form, and a synopsis shall be furnished the official pa- 
pers." 



CATECHISM. 



2 33 



Q. What shall the Secretary of the Conference do? 

A. "The Secretary of each Annual Conference shall for- 
ward each year a certified copy of the Journal to the Secretary 
of the General Conference, who shall preserve and forward 
the same to the General Conference." 

O. 23. May members at pleasure withdraw from 
the sittings of the Conference? 

A. They may not. 

"No member of Conference shall withdraw himself 
from its sittings without permission, until all the business 
shall have been transacted.*' 

Q. 24. Is it the duty of ministers belonging to the 
Annual Conference to attend its annual sessions? 

A. It is. 

"It shall be the duty of every minister belonging to 
the Annual Conference to attend its annual sessions, or, 
if unable to attend, to inform the Conference by letter 
of said inability, and the causes thereof, and to forward 
the statistical report of his field to the Conference. 

O. What is the penalty of neglecting these duties? 

A. Censure, or loss of membership. 

"Any minister who neglects the above duties shall 
be subject to the censure of the Conference; and if he 
shall persist in such neglect for two years in succession, 
he shall be liable to lose his membership in said Confer- 
ence by a vote therof.'* 

Q. 25. May each Annual Conference prescribe the 
mode for the election of its delegates? 

A. It may. 

O. In all cases where an Annual Conference shall 
omit or decline to prescribe the mode for the election of 
delegates, what rule shall be followed? 

A. The following: 

"In stations, the election shall be by the qualified 
members, under the direction of the stewards, who shall 



^34 



CATECHISM. 



designate the time and place, and serve as judges of the 
election. Every election shall be by ballot, and be held 
at least ten days before the sitting of the Annual Con- 
ference. Notice shall be given on the preceding Sab- 
bath from the pulpit or pulpits, of the time and place 
of holding the election. No person shall be declared 
elected unless he has a majority of all the votes given. 

"It shall be the duty of the stewards, in every circuit, 
to hold an election in their respective churches, previous 
to the last Quarterly Conference in each year, for del- 
egate or delegates to the Annual Conference, and report 
the result to the last Quarterly Conference, under the cer- 
tificate of the stewards. The person or persons receiv- 
ing a majority of the whole number of votes shall be 
considered elected. But if no person or persons receive 
such majority, then the Quarterly Conference shall elect, 
by ballot, a delegate or delegates; the person or persons 
receiving a majority of all the votes cast shall be the del- 
egate or delegates elect. And in case the Quarterly Con- 
ference fail to meet and decide, then the stewards of the 
circuit shall have power to determine who is elected." 

Q. What penalty may attach to the failure of an 
Annual Conference to send its journal to the General 
Conference? 

A. 26. The loss of its representation. 

"Any Annual Conference failing to send its journal 
to the General Conference, according to the requirement 
of the Constitution, * * * without sufficient reason, shall 
be liable to lose its representation in said General Confer- 
ence, by a vote thereof." 

O. 27. May a President and standing district com- 
mittee, change the time or place of holding the Annual 
Conference? 

A. They may. 

"When a President and standing district committee, 
or a majority of them, shall be satisfied of the necessity 



CATECHISM. 



2 35 



for changing the time or place of holding the succeed- 
ing Annual Conference, they may do so by giving public 
notice in the district at least two months previous to the 
time of holding such conference." 

Q. 28. Shall each Annual Conference pay the ex- 
penses of its representatives to the General Conference? 
A. It shall 

"Each Annual Conference shall collect an amount 
sufficient to pay all the expenses of its representatives 
to and from the General Conference, and while at the 
General Conference, and forward the same to the treas- 
urer of the delegation from said Conference, to be chosen 
by said Conference, at the session electing its representa- 
tives/' 

O. 29. Is each Annual Conference required to elect 
annually a standing district committee? 

A. It is. 

"The Annual Conferences, respectively, shall elect 
annually a standing district committee of three elders 
and three laymen, whose duty it shall be, in the event of 
the death, resignation or suspension of the President, to 
appoint a President pro tern, to serve until the sitting of 
the next Annual Conference." 

O. 30. Should charges be preferred against the 
President of an Annual Conference, who shall take cog- 
nizance of the case? 

A. The standing district committee. 

"Should charges be preferred against the President 
of an Annual Conference, the committee shall call upon 
one of the elders of the Conference to perform the official 
notifications and to act as executive officer in the trial, 
in accordance with the rules provided for the trial of 
ministers." 



2j6 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 31. May an Annual Conference furnish a 
church of another denomination with a ministerial sup- 
ply? 

A. It may. 

"When any church of another denomination signifies 
a desire to receive a ministerial supply from any Annual 
Conference, said Annual Conference may accede to the 
wishes of the church making application, by appointment 
from year to year, as it may see fit; provided, that the 
church thus supplied shall co-operate with the Confer- 
ence in its various measures of benevolence and reli- 
gion." 

O. 32. What shall no Annual Conference do? 

A. "No Annual Conference shall receive any person 
into its itinerancy until he has passed a satisfactory exam- 
ination in English Grammar, Scripture History (Smith's), 
Binney's Compend, and the Discipline of the Methodist 
Protestant Church, or in their equivalent." 

O. When a more advanced course of study is not 
provided by an Annual Conference, what course shall be 
mandatory? 

A. The following: 

First Year. — Wakefield's Theology (about one-third), 
Fisher's Church History (about one-third), History of 
the Methodist Protestant Church. 

Second Year. — Wakefield's Theology (continued), 
Fisher's Church History (continued),Kidders Homilet- 
ics, or Phelp's Theory and Practice of Preaching, Nich- 
oll's Helps to the Reading of the Bible. 

Third Year. — Wakefield's Theology (completed), 
Fisher's Church History (completed), Kidder's Hom- 
iletics, or Phelp's Theory and Practice of Preaching 
(completed). 

We recommend that selections be made from the 
following list for additional readine: 



CATECHISM. 



237 



Systematic Theology. — Raymond, Pope, Lee, Wat- 
son, Summers. 

Old Testament Theology. — Oehler. 

New Testament Theology. — Van Oosterzee, Schmidt. 

Natural Theology. — Paley, Chadbourne, Diman. 

Mental Science. — Porter, Hickok, Wayland, Upham, 
Sully. 

Moral Science. — Hopkins, Calderwood, Hickok. 
Homiletics. — Porter, Hoppin. 
Church History. — Hase. 
History of Doctrines. — Shedd. 
Pastoral Theology. — Hoppin. Shedd. 

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. 

Q. 1. When shall the Electoral College assembled 
A. On the Friday of the conference, at 2 o'clock, p. m. 
O. How shall it organize? 

A. By the appointment of a chairman, secretary, and 
three judges. 

Q. What shall it then proceed to do? 

A. "To elect by ballot the number of ministerial and 
lay representatives to the General Conference to which the 
district may be entitled. Also, if necessary, an equal number 
of ministerial and lay alternates, to serve in the event of any 
disability on the part of the original representatives to do so, 
who shall have precedence according to the vote received/' 

O. When the representatives have been elected, 
what shall the college do? 

A. It shall adjourn, and the Annual Conference shall 
resume its business. 

Q. May the Annual Conference alternate its ses- 
sions with the college? 

A. It may, if necessary. 



CATECHISM. 



Q. 2. What shall be the duty of the presidents and 
secretaries respectively of the Electoral College? 

A. They "shall immediately after the adjournment of 
their respective colleges j forward to the Secretary of the 
General Conference, a certified list of representatives and 
alternates elected by said colleges to the General Conference!' 

O. 3. Should the seat of any representative to the 
General Conference be contested, what must the con- 
testant do? 

A. He must "give notice to the person or persons re- 
turned by the electoral college, within twenty days after the 
college shall have been dissolved, stating the ground of con- 
test/' 

This language seems to imply that in case of con- 
test, notice must be given by the contestant to the entire 
delegation from an Annual Conference to the General 
Conference. This, however, can hardly be the mean- 
ing. The idea, perhaps, is, that a case might arise in a 
Conference in which more than one seat might be con- 
tested. If there is more than one contest, there must be 
more than one contestant. If this is the meaning, the 
place should read, 'The contestant, or contestants, shall 
give notice to the person or persons, returned by the 
Electoral College, and whose election is contested, within 
twenty days," etc. This is perhaps what is intended. 

SETTING OFF NEW DISTRICTS. 

Q. 1. How many members must a new district 
contain? 

A. Fifteen hundred. 

O. Is there any exception to this rule? 

A. Yes; in "case of frontier districts, which, however, 
shall contain at least five hundred members/' 



CATECHISM. 



^39 



O. Shall the General Conference be competent to 
constitute Mission Annual Conference Districts, with a 
smaller number than five hundred members? 

A. It sMH. 

Q. Shall said Mission Districts be entitled to rep- 
resentation in the General Conference? 

A. Yes; in a restricted sense. 

"Said Mission Districts shall be entitled to represen- 
tation in the General Conference of one ministerial and 
one lay messenger from each district, who shall have 
the right of discussion, but not the right to vote in the 
General Conference. " 

Q. Shall every Annual Conference organized in the 
interval of the General Conference report the fact of its 
organization? 

A. It shall 

"Every Annual Conference which shall organize dur- 
ing the interval of the General Conference, shall report in 
writing the facts of such organization, and the proofs, 
or evidences thereof, to the succeeding General Confer- 
ence." 

Q. 2. Has the President authority to appoint mis- 
sionaries? 

A. He has. 

"Whenever, in the interval of the Conference, a call 
shall be made upon the President of an Annual Confer- 
ence for a minister or preacher to render service in any 
place not included in some other station, circuit, or mis- 
sion, within his district, or upon ground without the ter- 
ritorial limits of any district, or in case the President shall 
be fully satisfied, from his own personal knowledge or 
otherwise, of the need of such service, without any spe- 
cial call upon him for aid, he shall have authority to ap- 
point a missionary in all cases." 



240 



CATECHISM. 



Q. Has each Annual Conference authority to ap- 
point its ministers or preachers to serve as Home Mis- 
sionaries? 

A. Yes; it has. 

"Each Annual Conference shall have authority to em- 
ploy or appoint its ministers or preachers to serve as 
Home Missionaries in any unoccupied portions of its 
district for the purpose of preaching the Gospel therein, 
and organizing churches with a view to the formation of 
new stations and circuits under the Constitution of the 
Methodist Protestant Church." 

O. May an Annual Conference convert a station or 
circuit into a mission? 

A. Yes; in certain circumstances. 

"Whenever, from pecuniary inability to support a 
pastor, or any other cause which the Annual Conference 
may deem sufficient, the conversion of a station or cir- 
cuit into a mission is desired, the Annual Conference 
may make such change." 

Q. Has the Conference authority to prescribe the 
duties and provide for the support of Home Mission- 
aries? 

A. It has. 

"The Conference shall have authority to prescribe the 
duties of Home Missionaries, provide for their support, 
and in case of deficiencies, to allow them a proportionate 
part of the funds of the Annual Conference raised for 
missionary purposes." 

O. What further authority shall the Conference 

have in regard to Home Missionaries? 

A. All necessary authority to change their appoint- 
ments and regulate their movements and their work. 

"The Conference shall, further, have authority to 
change the appointments of said missionaries at its an- 
nual sessions, or continue them, as the Conference shall 



CATECHISM. 



241 



deem best, and to require 01 the missionaries to make 
regular reports at said sessions of the success and pro- 
gress of their labors, as to the societies they have organ- 
ized, and any other objects connected with their missions; 
and to prescribe such rules and regulations for the govern- 
ment of said societies, in conformity to the Constitution 
and Discipline of the Methodist Protestant Church, as 
the Conference shall deem best, until the Conference 
shall, in its judgment of their circumstances, decide to 
set them off and organize them into regular stations or 
circuits." 

GENERAL CONFERENCE. 

Q. 1. How shall the President of the General Con- 
ference be recognized? 

A. As the conncctional officer of the church until the 
succeeding General Conference, 

"He shall be empowered, in conjunction with the 
Board of Publication, to appoint a place for the meeting 
of the General Conference, in default of its reception by 
the place selected. He shall be invested with no other 
powers or prerogatives except the purely ministerial one 
of receiving and answering such official correspondence 
as may be addressed to him in the interval of the quad- 
rennial sessions of our legislative assembly. " 

O. How long shall the Secretary of the General 
Conference hold his office? 

A. "Until the succeeding General Conference:' 

"He shall take his place in the organization of that 
body: but in his absence a secretary pro tempore shall be 
elected." 

O. 2. How shall the General Conference be or- 
ganized? 

A. "The President of the preceding General Confer- 
ence shall take the chair at 10 o'clock, a. m.; — but in his ab- 
sence a president pro tempore shall be elected.'' 



24-2 



CATECHISM. 



O. 3. On what basis shall the Conference be or- 
ganized? 

A. On the roll of the Secretary. 

"The Secretary of the General Conference shall make 
out a roll of members of the General Conference from the 
certified lists forwarded by the presidents and secretaries 
of the electoral colleges; and the General Conference 
shall organize upon the basis of that roll of members, 
which shall be prima facie evidence of their member- 
ship." 

O. 4. Should representatives from an Annual Con- 
ference, whose election has not been regularly certified, 
present themselves with other evidences of election by 
the Electoral College of said Conference, what action 
shall be taken? 

A. (> 'Their right to a seat in the General Conference, 
with the evidences presented, shall be referred to a special 
committee appointed for the purpose, who shall report to the 
General Conference whether or not the said representatives 
are. entitled to seats/' 

O. 5. Shall a committee on certificates be ap- 
pointed? 

A. It shall 

"A committee on certificates shall be appointed, to 
which shall be referred all certificates of election, together 
with other evidence of membership, in the absence of 
certificates. This committee shall also hear all contested 
cases, and their report shall be subject to the decision of 
the Conference." 

OFFICIAL DUTIES. 
DUTIES OF PRESIDENTS. 

Q. 1. Shall the President have. the preference of 
the pulpit in every place he may officially visit? 
A. He shall 



CATECHISM. 



H3 



Q. 2. Shall the President see that every pastor in 
the district duly enters upon and continues in the faith- 
ful discharge of his official duties? 

A. Yes. 

O. 3. When a President makes an exchange of a 
minister or preacher from one station, circuit, or mis- 
sion to another, shall it be his duty to give him a written 
certificate of said change? 

A. It shall; and said certificate "shall be his only pass- 
port to his new appointment" 

Q. Shall he also give a certificate of employment 
to ministers, preachers, and missionaries, whom he may 
employ in the recess of the Conference? 

A. He shall; and zi'ithout such certificate, "no minister, 
preacher, or missionary shall be recognized as regularly ap- 
pointed" 

Q. Shall the President be required to provide for 
the regular administration of the ordinances of the 
church in such charges as are supplied by unordained 
men? 

A. Yes; he shall. 

"To enable him to carry out this provision, he may 
call to his assistance any pastor within the bounds of 
the Conference over which he presides; provided, how- 
ever, that he shall not call any from his field of labor 
more than once during a Conference year.'' 

O. 4. In the absence of a regular agent, what shall 
be the duty of the President at each Annual Conference 
session? 

A. "To call the attention of the Conference to the claims 
of the missionary, educational, periodical, and other general 
interests of the church as may properly come before it, for 
such action as may be deemed necessary." 



CATECHISM 



DUTIES OF PASTORS. 

O. What are the duties of pastors? 

A. The following duties are required of them: 

"i. To preach the word, administer the ordinances, 
execute discipline, and faithfully discharge all the duties 
pertaining to the ministerial and pastoral office; to read 
and explain such portions of the Constitution and Dis- 
cipline as he may deem necessary to give our people 
suitable information in regard to our ecclesiastical eco- 
nomy. 

"2. To receive persons on probation, assign them 
to classes, when they do not select for themselves, and 
to execute discipline. 

"3. To visit all the classes, at least once a quarter, 
if practicable; and see that they are duly and properly 
met by their respective leaders; and that the members 
regularly attend their classes. And to hold an election 
within the last quarter in each Conference year, of a 
class leader, in each class of his station, circuit, or mis- 
sion; but should any class refuse or neglect to elect a 
leader in accordance with the Constitution, the pastor 
shall appoint a leader for said class. 

"4. To give due notice from all the pulpits of his sta- 
tion, circuit, or mission, of the time and place of holding 
the ensuing Quarterly Conference. 

"5. To hold love feasts, general class meetings, and 
prayer meetings; to visit the sick, the poor, the aged 
and infirm members, as well as those in health and better 
circumstances. 

"6. To organize the children of the members into 
classes of moderate size, provided the parents or guar- 
dians of the children concur in the measure, and appoint 
suitable teachers, male or female, whose duty it shall be 
to instruct them in the principles and precepts of the 



CATECHISM. 



2 45 



Christian religion; to organize, as far as practicable, Sab- 
bath-schools, at each appointment within his charge. 

"7. To keep an exact record of all the members be- 
longing to his station, circuit or mission, and of the bap- 
tisms and marriages. To submit a written report quar- 
terly to his Quarterly Conference, setting forth the spir- 
itual condition of his charge, together w T ith all changes 
that have been made during the quarter. 

"8. To report quarterly, when practicable, to the 
President by letter, and only items of general interest 
to the official organs; and at the close of his term leave 
his successor a plan of his charge. 

"9. To give certificates to those who desire to re- 
move to another station, circuit or mission; and when 
such certificates are issued, he shall at once, if able to do 
so, notify the pastor of the charge to which the removal 
is intended to be, or has been made. But no certificate 
shah be valid longer than six months after date, except 
unavoidable circumstances shall have put it out of the 
power of the holder to join within the above named 
period. All ministers, preachers, and members holding 
certificates, shall be responsible to the authority whence 
the certificate was taken, until it shall have expired by 
limitation. No pastor shall withhold a certificate from 
persons whose moral character stands fair. A suitable 
testimonial shall not be withheld from those who propose 
to withdraw from the fellowship of the Methodist Prot- 
estant Church. 

"10. The pastor is a member of all Sabbath-school 
societies and teachers' meetings belonging to his pas- 
toral charge, and when present shall be the chairman of 
the meeting. Teachers' meetings shall be held weekly, 
or at least monthly. 

"11. It shall be the duty of each pastor to present 
to the people of his charge, annually, the claims of the 
respective general interests of the church, as required 



246 



CATECHISM. 



by the Discipline, receive such contributions as they are 
willing to give for the support of the same, and forward 
them to the boards respectively having these interests in 
charge. 

"12. Should any pastor neglect to take such col- 
lections, he shall be subject to reprimand, and for a sec- 
ond neglect he shall be left without appointment by the 
Conference of which he is a member." 

DUTIES OF ASSOCIATE PASTOR. 

Q. What shall be the duty of the associate pastor? 

A. "It shall be the duty of the associate pastor to preach 
statedly in all the appointments, and to aid the pastor in the 
general work of the Gospel in the charge to which he has 
been appointed' 9 

SUPERNUMERARY MINISTERS. 

Q. What is a supernumerary minister? 

A. He is one who is unable "to devote himself entirely 
to the zvork of the ministry, bat who is zvilling to render a 
certain amount of ministerial labor in the vicinity zvhere he 
may reside/' and zvho. in view of these facts has been grant- 
cd a supernumerary relation by vote of the Conference. 

O. On being granted this relation, what shall he do? 

A. He shall, "'on being granted this relation, report him- 
self to the nearest Quarterly Conference, zuherein he may be 
entitled to a seat, but he shall be ultimately responsible to the 
Annual Conference: 9 

Q. What duties shall he be required to perform? 

A. "He shall preach statedly in all the appointments of- 
ficially assigned him, and aid the pastor in his official duties, 
so far as his other engagements will permit. He shall at- 
tend the sessions of the Annual Conference; or if unable to 
attend, he shall inform the Conference, by letter, of said ina- 
bility, and the cause or causes thereof." 



CATECHISM. 



H7 



DUTIES OF UXSTATIOXED MINISTERS. 

O. What shall be the duty of unstationed ministers 
or preachers? 

A. It shall be the duty of every unstationed minister or 
preacher, to preach in all the appointments officially assigned 
him; and to render all the pastoral assistance in his station, 
circuit, or mission, he can, consistently with his other duties/' 

O. Shall he have the privilege of stating explicitly 
the amount of service he can consistently perform? 

A. He shall. 

DUTIES OF CLASS LEADERS. 

Q. What shall be the duties of class leaders? 

A. It shall be the duty of each class leader — 

"i. To meet his class once a week, to instruct the 
members in the principles and duties of Christianity; to 
comfort them in affliction; to advise them in cases of 
difficulty ; and to exhort them to diligence and persever- 
ance in doing and suffering the will of God; and it shall 
be the duty of each member of the class to meet him 
at the stated time and place appointed for holding the 
class meeting. 

"2. Each leader shall have the names of all the mem- 
bers of his class entered in a book or paper kept by him 
for the purpose, in which he shall note, weekly, the pres- 
ence or absence of each member. 

"3. It shall also be the duty of each leader to attend 
the monthly meetings, to represent the state of his class, 
and inform the pastor of any that are sick, or need a pas- 
toral visit. 

"4. It shall be the duty of each leader to visit the 
sick, and those members who frequently absent them- 
selves from the means of grace; and to promote the 
spiritual, temporal, and eternal interests of those com- 
mitted to his care. 



248 



CATECHISM. 



"5. It shall be the duty of each leader to report to 
the pastor all cases of neglect of duty or improper con- 
duct on the part of the members of his class, which, in 
his opinion, require the exercise of discipline." 

GENERAL DUTIES OF TRUSTEES. 

Q. 1. When, and by whom, shall trustees be elect- 
ed? 

A. "Trustees shall be elected annually by the qualified 
members of the church, except where charters otherwise re- 
quire" 

Q. What shall be the duty of trustees? 

A. "It shall be the duty of trustees to hold the property 
in trust for the use and benefit of the church, and to fill all 
vacancies in their Board by death, resignation, or ceasing to 
be a member of the Methodist Protestant Church/' 

It is evident from this that a person can not be a 
trustee who is not a member of the Methodist Protestant 
Church. 

Q. 2. What further duties are imposed on trus- 
tees? 

A. It shall be the duty of trustees "to hold periodical 
meetings, and keep a fair and regular record of all the trans- 
actions of their Board, — which shall at all times be open for 
the inspection of members of the church'' — and the record 
shall be audited annually by a special committee appointed for 
that purpose by the church!' 

O. 3. Who shall take care of the church property 
of ah kinds? 

A. The trustees. 

O. How shall the expenses of repairs and improve- 
ments be raised? 

A. "Any expense incurred in repair and improvement 
shall be collected by the Board of Trustees, after having such 
expenses and collection announced from the pidpit." 



CATECHISM. 249 

Q. 4. What power shall the trustees have? 

A. They shall have power cc to purchase, build, repair, 
lease, sell, rent, mortgage, or otherzvise procure or dispose of 
property, when authorized by two-thirds of the qualified 
members of the church at a meeting for the purpose, of 
which meeting at least four weeks 3 public notice shall have 
been given; and on no other condition or conditions what- 
ever." 

O. May the trustees deny the use of the Church to 
any Christian work recognized by the General Confer- 
ence? 

A. They may not. 

The duties and powers of trustees are specific. They 
have power to do what the Discipline and the church 
that elected them authorizes them to do, and nothing 
more. Many persons imagine that the trustees have a 
right to give the use of the church for lectures, and va- 
rious kinds of entertainments, and other things, without 
the authority of the society. This is not the case. The 
Discipline gives them no such authority. The clause on 
which the last question is based is misleading; it was 
adopted as an amendment to meet a certain case; but 
to harmonize with what precedes it, it should read, 'The 
use of our churches shall not be denied to any Christian 
work," etc. 

O. What is meant by "qualified members'? 

A. It means persons who have the necessary qualifica- 
tions to vote according to the law of the Annual Conference 
within zvhose bounds they reside. 

Each Annual Conference adopts its own law of suf- 
frage, and every person within the bounds of the Confer- 
ence who complies with that law, is a "qualified mem- 
ber," and entitled to vote. 



GATE CHI SAL 



Q. 5. In case any church shall become extinct by 
the death of its members, by removals, or otherwise, in 
whom shall the church property, if any, vest? 

A. "It shall vest in the Quarterly Conference of the 
charge, [if in a circuit,] or in the Annual Conference, [if a 
station] zvhere there is no Quarterly Conference, to be dis- 
posed of in erecting houses of worship for the church, after 
paying any debts that may exist against said church!' 

O. 6. When shall a church be regarded as extinct? 

A. "When the membership shall become so reduced that 
it has not sufficient members to fill its offices, and has ceased 
to hold its regular meetings, and to keep its relation with any 
charge having regular connection with an Annual Confer- 
ence; 9 

DUTIES OF STEWARDS. 

O. 1. What meeting shall there be soon after the 
rise of the Annual Conference? 

A. A meeting of the official members. 

"As soon as practicable after the rise of the Annual 
Conference, there shall be a meeting of the official mem- 
bers of the charge to ascertain the current expenses of 
the year, and apportion them to the several churches." 

O. 2. What shall then be the duty of the stewards 
and class leaders? 

A. "To apportion the same among the members accord- 
ing to their ability or willingness to pay, * * * or, if pre- 
ferred, the amount each member is to pay may be determined 
by subscription. Axfter the apportionment is thus made a re- 
port of the same shall be made to the church for its adop- 
tion. 3 ' 

O. 3. Are the stewards required to keep a financial 
register? 

A. Yes; they are. 

"It shall be the duty of the stewards of each church 
to procure a suitable book, prepared for the purpose, 



CATECHISM. 



and keep a financial register, in which the names of all 
members shall be enrolled. This book shall be ruled 
with columns to show opposite each name the amount 
apportioned or subscribed, and to give credits to each 
one as payments are made either weekly or monthly." 

Q. What is recommended in regard to the payment 
of church dues? 

A. "It is recommended that weekly payments be made 
in stations, and monthly on circuits/' 

O. 4. Is the envelope plan of raising church funds 
recommended? 
A. It is. 

It is recommended "that wherever it is practicable 
what is called the envelope plan be used in collecting 
church and benevolent funds, and that such committees 
and collectors as may be deemed necessary be appointed 
to assist and co-operate in making the collections." 

Q. 5. Shall the stewards or treasurer furnish a 
monthly or quarterly statement of his accounts to the 
members of the church? 

A. Yes. 

"The stewards or treasurer of each church shall fur- 
nish to each member each month in stations, and at the 
end of each quarter on circuits, a statement showing 
the condition of his or her apportionments or subscrip- 
tion. It shall also be the duty of the stewards to call on 
each delinquent and collect the amount due." 

O. 6. Who shall make the necessary provision and 
preparation for the observance of the Lord's Supper and 
love feast? 

A. The stewards. 

Q. Are the stewards required to report to the church 
the state of the church funds? 
A. They are. 



CATECHISM. 



They "shall make a quarterly report to the church of 
their collections and disbursements, and state of the 
church funds. v 

O. 7. Shall they see that a Conference collection 
be taken up? 

A. They shall. 

'They shall see that a collection be taken up some 
time in the last quarter, and forward the same to the 
Annual Conference Stewaid, and provide the Discipline 
to be given to each full member at the time of reception 
into the church." 

No better financial system than that adopted by our 
church could be devised; and if it were strictly observed 
and faithfully carried out, we would have but very little 
financial trouble in any of our charges. 

GENERAL BOARDS. 

O. Who elects the General Boards of the church? 
A. The General Conference. 
O. For what length of time are they elected? 
A. For four years. 

O. To whom do these boards report? 
A. To the General Conference. 

Q. Is it the duty of pastors, so far as they are able, 
to promote the interests of these boards? 
A. It is. 

BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. - 

Q. Of how many members does the Board of For- 
eign Missions consist? 

A. Of nine, five of zvhom are designated the Executive 
Committee, with power to act. 



CATECHISM. 253 

O. Who elects the Corresponding Secretary of the 
Board? 

A. The General Conference; and he is ex officio a mem- 
ber of the Board. 

O. What are his duties? 

A. "To travel under the direction of the Board through 
the church generally, visiting the Annual Conferences and 
churches; to conduct the correspondence of the Board; to act 
as its Treasurer, and to perform all other duties pertaining to 
his office." 

O. Is the Corresponding Secretary required to give 
bond? 

A. He is, in the sum of $3,000. 

O. What is the Board of Foreign Missions author- 
ized to do? 

A. To direct and control all our missionary work in 
foreign lands, except that committed especially to the Wom- 
an 3 s Foreign Missionary Society. 

'The Board shall have power to make its own rules 
and regulations, to fill vacancies occurring in the interim 
of the General Conference, fix the salary of the Corres- 
ponding Secretary, establish missions in foreign lands, 
employ missionaries, fix their salaries, and change or re- 
move them, as the interest of the work may demand, 
and to control and apply all the funds in the treasury. 
It shall also have power to require the Corresponding 
Secretary to faithfully perform the duties of his office, 
and for sufficient cause may suspend or remove him 
from office; provided, that he shall have the right of ap- 
peal to the General Conference. " 

O. Where is the Board of Foreign Missions located? 

A. In Springfield,, Ohio. 



2 54 



CATECHISM. 



BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS. 

Q. Of how many members does the Board of Home 
Missions consist? 

A. Of seven — four ministers and three laymen. 
Q. Where is the Board located? 
A. At Grafton, W. Va, 

O. Who elects its Corresponding Secretary? 

A. The General Conference ; and he is ex officio a mem- 
ber of the Board, and also its Treasurer. 

O. What are the duties of the Corresponding Sec- 
retary? 

A. To act under the direction of the Board, conduct its 
correspondence, visit the Annual Conferences, churches and 
mission fields, report quarterly regarding the work, and an- 
finally, or oftcner if required, make a complete detailed report 
of all matters connected with the work, and perform such 
other duties as pertain to his office'' He shall give bond in 
the sum o f $5,000. 

O. With what authority is the Board of Home Mis- 
sions clothed? 

A. It '''shall have general supervision over and direc- 
tion of all mission work in the United States and Territories, 
except those missions under the control of and sustained by 
the Annual Conferences" 

"It shall have authority to fix salaries, to arrange for 
the collection of funds to carry on the work, to employ 
and remove missionaries, to establish missions, to loan 
money on satisfactory security for building purposes, 
either with or without interest, and upon such terms and 
conditions as the Board may deem best, and shall have 
general authority to do all things necessary for the pro- 
motion of the work." 

Q. What is the Board required annually to do? 

A. "The Board shall estimate at each annual meeting 
the amount of money required to carry on its work the foU 



CATECHISM. 



2 55 



hiving year, and assess each Annual Conference, notice of 
which assessment shall be sent to the President of each An- 
nual Conference, who shall present the same to the next ses- 
sion of his Conference and have the same apportioned to the 
several stations, circuits, and missions, and the money when 
collected shall be forwarded at once to the Treasurer of the 
Board/' 

Q. Is it made the duty of pastors to preach on the 
subject of Home Missions? 
A. It is. 

"It shall be the duty of pastors to preach at least one 
sermon each conference year on the subject of Home 
Missions at each appointment on their respective charges, 
secure contributions for the work, and forward the same 
at once to the Treasurer of the Board. 

WOMAN'S FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

Q. Is the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society rec- 
ognized as one of the permanent agencies of the church? 
A. It is. 

Q. How is this society constituted? 

A, The General Conference elects the Executive Com- 
mittee of the Society, which consists of thirteen persons, who 
are ex-ofhcio members of the Executive Board, embracing the 
representatives of the several Annual Conference Branches. 

Q. What is the object of this Society? 

A. To unite "the women of the Methodist Protestant 
Church in efforts to promote and to extend the organized work 
of missions, and in educating and Christianising heathen 
women and girls by sending missionaries, Bible readers and 
teachers to foreign lands, and by establishing and control- 
ling schools and homes/' 

O. Is the Society required to work in harmony with 
the Board of Foreign Missions? 

A. It is. 



2 5 6 CATECHISM. 

"The Society shall work in harmony with and under 
the advisory supervision of the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions of the Methodist Protestant Church." 

O. Is the Society permitted to raise funds by public 
collections in our churches? 

A. It is not. 

Q. How, then, may it secure funds? 

A. "By securing members, life members, honorary 
members, and in such ether ways as the Society may deter- 
mine, and which shall not conflict with the regular collec- 
tions of the Board of Foreign Missions; but collections may 
be taken at all meetings called in the interests of the Society!' 

Q. Of what work shall the Society have charge? 

A. "Of all the zvork for zvomen and girls within the 
bounds of the missions of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
but shall not be restricted in its work to these boundaries." 

Q. Is the Board of Foreign Missions required to 
take cognizance of the work of the Woman's Society? 

A. It is. 

"It shall be the duty of the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions to take cognizance of the work entrusted to the 
Society, and to further the same by all means that may 
make the missionary work of the church at home and 
abroad efficient and successful/' 

O. Is it the duty of pastors to encourage and to as- 
sist in the organization of Branch and Auxiliary So- 
cieties? 

A. It is made the duty of all pastors to do so. 

WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

O. When was this Society organized? 

A. In 1893. 

O. Has it been recognized by the General Confer- 
ence? 

A. It has. 



CATECHISM. 



2 57 



The last General Conference approved its constitu- 
tion and recognized it as one of the regular agencies of 
the church. 

O. What are its objects? 

A. "The objects of this Society shall be to enlist the 
women and children who are connected with our congrega- 
tions throughout the United States in organised efforts in be- 
half of those who are destitute of Gospel privileges/' 

O. Of what does the organization consist? 

A. It consists of a general Executive Board, Confer- 
ence Societies and Auxiliary Societies; also an Executive 
Committee of thirteen persons, who shall be appointed by the 
General Conference. 

O. Of how many members shall the Executive Com- 
mittee consist? 

A. Thirteen. 

'The Executive Committee of the Society shall con- 
sist of thirteen members, who shall be elected by the 
General Conference at each of its quadrennial sessions. 
The committee shall have its headquarters at Adrian, 
Michigan, and not less than five of its members shall 
be members of the Michigan Conference Society. It shall 
meet quarterly, or oftener, and three shall constitute a 
quorum for the transaction of business.*' 

Q. How shall the funds of this Society be raised? 

A. By membership dues, special collections, and pledges. 

''The funds of the Society shall not be raised by pub- 
lic collections, nor subscriptions taken during any reg- 
ular church service, nor in Sunday-schools, but shall be 
raised by securing members, life-members, honorary 
members, by collections and subscriptions taken in 
audiences convened in the interests of the Society, by 
pledges from the Young People's Society of Christian 
Endeavor, and from Junior Christian Endeavor Socie- 
ties, and by other approved methods deemed desirable. 



CATECHISM. 



The amounts so collected shall be reported to the An- 
nual Conference through the pastor in charge, in order 
that they may be entered with other collections and be 
published in the Annual and General Minutes/' 

Q. What relation does this Society sustain to the \ 
Board of Home Missions? 

A. This Society shall act in harmony with (and under 
the advisory supervision of) the Board of Home Missions \ 
of the Methodist Protestant Church, reserving the right of 
controlling it own funds. 

Q. When shall the General Board of the Society ! 
meet? 

A. Annually, in connection with the Woman's Foreign 
Missionary Society. 

BOARD OF MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

Q. Of how many members does the Board of Min- 
isterial Education consist? 

A. "Of four members and a Corresponding Secretary, 
ivho shall be a member ex officio of the Board, and all of 
zvhom shall be members in good standing in the Methodist 
Protestant Church/' 

"The Corresponding Secretary shall also be Treas- 
urer of the Board, and shall be required to give bond in 
the sum of not less than $5,000." 

O. What committee shall the General Conference 
at the same time elect? 

A. "An Examining Committee of three ministers and two 
laymen from the vicinity of each of the official colleges of the j 
church, the ministers to consist of the president of the theo- I 
logical seminary or theological department of the college, the 
president of the college, and the pastor of the college church. 
The laymen to be chosen from the professors in the seminary 
or college, or from those who sustain some official relation to 
the college or seminary/ 9 



CATECHISM. 



259 



Q. What is the object of this Board? 
A. To assist young men of the Methodist Protestant 
Church, in preparing for the zvork of the ministry. 

Q. What amount may the Board appropriate to a 
beneficiary? 

A. "No beneficiary shall receive any assistance from this 
Board except upon the recommendation of four-fifths of the 
Examining Committee, and said beneficiary shall not receive 
more than $125 per year, or more than a total sum of $500, 
except upon special recommendation of the entire Examining 
Committee!' 

Q. How shall this appropriation be regarded? 

A. As "a loan without interest, to be returned to the 
Board at the rate of ten per cent, of the gross amount of sala- 
ry received annually, after they shall have entered the min- 
istry" 

"In case any person thus aided fails within one year 
after leaving college or seminary, to enter and continue 
in the ministry of the Methodist Protestant Church, un- 
less providentially hindered, the entire amount of money 
loaned him by the Board shall then become due, with 
interest from the time it was received. When any bene- 
ficiary of the Board shall leave the [Methodist Protestant 
Church before having repaid the loan made to him by the 
Board, his papers shall be withheld by the President of 
the Annual Conference, of which he is a member, until 
such debt shall have been repaid in full, and that the 
President of said Conference shall inform the Secretary 
of the Board of the intention of the person to withdraw." 

O. What shall be the duty of the Corresponding 
Secretary? 

A. "The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the gen- 
eral correspondence of the Board, and shall devote himself 
faithfully to promote the educational interests under its care." 

"He shall present the claims of the cause as exten- 
sively as possible to the entire denomination by corres- 



260 



CATECHISM. 



ponaence and visitation. He shall visit each of the col- 
leges where students are being aided by the Board, at 
least once a year, and take a proper interest in their edu- 
cation and general welfare. He shall report quarterly 
to the Board the result of his work, and shall be amen- 
able to the Board for the performance of the duties here- 
in set forth. And it shall be the duty of the Corres- 
ponding Secretary annually to advise the Presidents of 
the several Conferences of all persons employed in the 
several Conferences who are indebted to the Board." 

O. With what duty is the Examining Committee 
charged? 

A. "The Examining Committee shall be charged with 
the duty of examining candidates for the ministry who wish 
to apply to the Board for aid, and of exercising supervisory 
control over such students as receive aid. 39 

'They shall meet within twenty days from the rise of 
Conference and elect a Chairman and Secretary. They 
shall prepare a form for examining candidates, but shall 
also satisfy themselves, by any questions outside of this, 
of the fitness of the candidate, and shall not recommend 
any person until he has appeared before them and re- 
ceived the votes of a majority of the committee. They 
shall send to the Board a list of those recommended in 
the order of preference, and shall keep the Board in- 
formed as to the standing and progress of all students 
aided on their recommendation. They shall communi- 
cate with the various Annual Conferences as to the pro- 
gress of students from their respective districts, and 
give to every student at the close of his period of study 
at college or seminary a testimonial of honorable dis- 
missal to his Conference." 

BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 

Q. Where are the publishing concerns of the Metho- 
dist Protestant Church located? 
A. In Baltimore and Pittsburgh. 



CATECHISM. 261 

Q. Under whose control are they? 

A. Under the control of the General Conference. 

O. Is there a Book Directory at each of the above 
named places? 

A. There is. 

Q. Who compose these Directories? 
A. They are each composed of three laymen and two 
ministers, elected by the General Conference* 

O. Under what title are these Directories incorpo- 
rated? 

A. The Directory at Pittsburgh is incorporated as "The 
Pittsburgh Book Directory of the Methodist Protestant 
Church" and the Directory at Baltimore as "The Baltimore 
Book Directory of the Methodist Protestant Church." 

O. What do these two Directories constitute? 

A. The Board of Publication of the Methodist Protes- 
tant Church. 

Q. Are the Directories responsible for each other's 
debts? 

A. No; each Directory is responsible for its own debts. 

O. Are the editors and publishing- agents members 
of the Board? 

A. They are honorary members. 

O. What papers are recognized as the official or- 
gans of the church? 

A. The Methodist Protestant, and The Methodist Re- 
corder. 

O. By whom are the editors and publishing* agents 
of the official organs, and of the Sunday-school publica- 
tions of the church, elected? 

A. By the General Conference. 



262 



CATECHISM. 



O. What power does the Board of Publication pos- 
sess? 

A. It has power to decide what works shall bear the 
imprint of the denomination; to fix the price of copyrights 
and official papers and official organs. 

O. Are the Sunday-school publications under its 
control? 

A. They are. 

'The Sunday-school publications shall be under the 
control of the Board of Publication, which shall deter- 
mine the number, form, character and price of publi- 
cations; and shall have authority to fill any vacancies 
that may occur in the editorship of the Sunday-school 
periodicals." 

Q. Plow shall vacancies which may occur in the re- 
spective Directories be filled? 

A. By the remaining members of the respective cor- 
porations. 

Q. Should assistance in editorial work become ne- 
cessary for any cause on the official organs, how may 
such assistance be secured? 

A. Through the respective Directories. 

Q. What reports are the Directories and the Board 
of Publication required to make? 

A. Each Directory shall report to the Board of Pub- 
lication, covering the business of each year separately, and 
said reports, or copies of them, shall be transmitted to the 
General Conference, with the reports of the Board of Publi- 
cation. 

GENERAL AGENTS. 

Q. Who shall see that the several agents, and sec- 
retaries of the respective publishing boards, perform 
their official duties creditably? 

A. The respective Boards^ or Directories. 



CATECHISM. 263 

O. What power shall each Board, or Directory, have 
over agents and secretaries under its supervision? 

A. It shall have power to remove them "for incom- 
petency or neglect of duty, and fill all vacancies created dur- 
ing the interim of the General Conference. 33 

Q. Are the editors, publishing agents, and the cor- 
responding secretaries of the Boards of Home and For- 
eign Missions and of Ministerial Education, members of 
the several Annual Conferences which they officially 
visit? 

A. They are ex-officio honorary members of the Annual 
Conferences which they officially visit, so far as the general 
interests which they represent are concerned. 

O. In case of vacancy in the editorship of either of 
the official organs, how shall it be filled? 

A. The Directory immediately concerned shall have 
power to fill such vacancy. 

CHURCH EXTENSION. 

O. Is each Annual Conference required to organize 
a Board of Church Extension? 
A. It is. 

0. Of how many members shall it consist? 
A. Of five; three ministers and tzvo laymen. 
O. Is it required that it become incorporated? 
A. It is. 

Q. What duty shall it be required to perform? 

A. It shall receive all money raised by the Conference 
for church extension, and disburse the same tinder the di- 
rection of the Conference. 

O. Shall it have the oversight of all the mission 
work of the Conference? 

A. It shall. 



264 



CATECHISM. 



"The Board shall keep a faithful oversight of all the 
mission work and property of the Conference, and see 
that none of it is placed in jeopardy for debt or other- 
wise/' 

O. May the Board in the interval of the Conference 
make appropriations? 
A. It may. 

"But in all such cases it shall report the same, with a 
full report of all its proceedings, to the Conference at its 
next annual session." 

O. Shall the Board report to the Conference annu- 
ally the amount of money needed for the ensuing year? 
' A. It shall. 

O. What is the Conference then required to do? 

A. If the Conference approve the report, it shall pro- 
ceed to make arrangements to raise the same and pay it 
into the treasury of the Board. 

Q. Is it the duty of the Board to locate new mis- 
sions? 

A. It is. 

"It shall be the duty of the Board to inquire into the 
wants of all parts of the Conference District, and locate 
new missions in such places only as there is a prospect 
of building up self-sustaining churches." 

Q. What shall be done with the funds that shall 
come into the hands of the Board from the sale of church 
property? 

A. They shall go into a building fund to be controlled 
by the Board. 

"All the funds that shall come into the hands of the 
Board from the sale of church property, shall go into 
a building fund, to be carefully controlled by the Board, 
which shall be loaned to incorporated Boards or Trustees 
on real estate mortgage, at not more than half its value, 
to aid in building chapels and parsonages, under the pro- 
visions of the Discipline," 



CATECHISM. 



26s 



SOCIETIES OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 

O. How shall these societies be organized? 

A. "Under the 'model constitution' of the United So- 
ciety of Christian Endeavor, and shall be called, 'The Young 
People s Societies of Christian Endeavor of the Methodist 
Protestant Church/ " 

Q. What shall these societies unite to form? 

A. Conference unions. 

"The Societies within the bounds of the Annual Con- 
ference shall unite to form Conference Unions and hold 
annual gatherings; and, if expedient, sub-district organ- 
izations to meet oftener." 

Q. Shall Junior Societies be organized? 

A. Yes; when practicable. 

"When practicable, Junior Societies of Christian En- 
deavor shall be organized, and the superintendents of 
them shall be selected from the active members of the 
church and Sunday-school." 

Q. What shall the pastor of each charge having 
young peoples 1 societies be required to do? 

A. To give a full report of them to the Annual Confer- 
ence. 

"The pastor of each charge having young people's 
societies is required to carry up to his Annual Conference 
full statistical reports, names of societies, number of 
members — active, associate and honorary; number of 
conversions, number and kind of meetings held, contri- 
butions, and purposes for which raised, and other items 
from the societies that might be of interest to the Con- 
ference. Each Annual Conference shall be required to 
furnish pastors' blanks for such reports." 

The importance of enlisting the young people of the 
church in Christian work cannot be called in question; 
and that the "Young People's Society of Christian En- 
deavor" has done much in this direction, and is, conse- 



266 



CATECHISM. 



quently, worthy of hearty commendation and support, 
is equally true. This organization should therefore be 
fostered and encouraged as an agency for good. But it 
is a question, nevertheless, of no little importance whether 
these societies should not be brought into closer contact 
with the Church, and be made in some way responsible 
to it. The General Conference has indorsed this organ- 
ization, embracing its name, the various unions it 
proposes, and the Junior Societies it requires to be or- 
ganized. But whatever course of action these societies 
may choose to adopt, they are not, as societies, account- 
able to the Church, or in any way under its control. Each 
pastor, it is true, is required to make a full report to the 
Annual Conference of such societies as exist in his 
charge. This he is required to do as pastor, because as 
such he is responsible to the Conference. But the socie- 
ties themselves are not required to report to the Con- 
ference, because it has no control over them. Is it wise 
to have the young people of the church organized into 
a sort of independent sovereignty, having the indorse- 
ment of the church, but as an organization beyond its 
control? Would it not be wise to place these societies, 
at least, like Sabbath-schools, under the supervisory 
authority of the Quarterly Conferences of the respective 
charges to which they belong, giving the president of 
each society, ex-officio, a seat in the Quarterly Confer- 
ence, and requiring each society to report quarterly to 
that body, and in case any society neglects or refuses 
to do so, it shall not be regarded as an agency of the 
church. This would bind the local societies to the 
church, and would give the church greater interest in 
their welfare. 



CATECHISM. 



267 



RITUAL. 

ORDER OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

Q. What is the order of public worship in the 
Methodist Protestant Church? 

A. 1. Singing. 2. Prayer, closing with the Lord's 
Prayer. 3. Responsive reading of the Scriptures. 4. 
Reading of the Scriptures by the pastor. 5. Singing. 6. 
The offering. 7. The Sermon. 8. Prayer, p. Singing. 
10. The Apostolic Benediction. 

FORMS OF SPECIAL SERVICES. 

Q. Are there forms for special services? 
A. There are. 

There is a form for the "Baptism of Infants;" for the 
"Baptism of Such as are of Riper Years;" for the "Recep- 
tion of Probationers;" for "Reception into the Church;" 
for "The Lord's Supper;" for the "Marriage Ceremony;" 
for "The Burial of the Dead;" for the "Ordination of 
Elders;" for "Laying the Corner-stone of a Methodist 
Protestant Church;" for the "Dedication of a Church." 

O. What further is contained in the Discipline? 

A. A list of the Annual Conference Districts and their 
boundaries — thirty-seven in number; a list of Mission Con- 
ference Districts and their boundaries — fifteen in number; 
a course of study and reading recommended for candidates 
for the ministry; and forms of Church papers. 

THE APOSTLES' CREED. 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of 
heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son our 



268 



CATECHISM. 



Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of 
the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was 
crucified, dead and buried; the third day he arose from 
the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the 
right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence 
he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy Catholic Church, 
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the re- 
surrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. 

FORMS OF CHURCH PAPERS. 

RELEASE FROM A STATION OR CIRCUIT. 

A E , the bearer, is hereby released from any fur- 
ther obligation to continue his ministerial labors in 

Station [or Circuit]; and is also entitled to this testimony of 
his good moral standing in the Methodist Protestant Church. 

LICENSE TO EXHORT. 

A B , a member of the Methodist Protestant 

Church, residing in the Station, is hereby authorized 

to exercise himself, on all proper occasions, in exhortation, 
and calling sinners to repentance. 

This license to be renewed annually. 

Signed by order, and in behalf of the Quarterly Conference 
of . 

E F , Chairman. 

C D . Secretary. 

January 1, 18 — . 

LICENSE TO PREACH. 

C D , a member of the Methodist Protestant 

Church, residing in Circuit, being duly examined by 

this Quarterly Conference, on gifts, grace and acquirements, 
is hereby authorized to preach the Gospel of Christ. 



CATECHISM. 



269 



This license to be renewed annually. 

Signed by order, and in behalf of the Quarterly Confer- 
ence of . 

G H , Secretary. 

January 1, 18 — . 
Renewed January 1, 18 — . 

J K , Chairman. 

G H , Secretary. 

ELDER'S CREDENTIALS. 
To all ichom it may concern, greeting — 

Be it known, that C D , having been elected by the 

Annual Conference of Ministers and Delegates, was ordained 
for the office of Elder, in the Methodist Protestant Church; 
and he is hereby authorized by said Conference, so long as his 
life and doctrine accord with the Holy Scriptures, to admin- 
ister the Lord's Supper; to baptize; to celebrate Matrimony, 
and to feed the flock of God, taking the oversight, not as a 
lord over God's heritage, but being an example to the flock. 

Signed by order, and in behalf of the P Annual 

Conference. 

N S , President. 

A C , Secretary. 

January 1, 18 — . 

CERTIFICATE OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 

, a member of the Methodist Protestant 

Church, desiring to remove from this charge, is entitled to 
this certificate of good standing. 

Charge. — s Pastor. 

January 1, 18 — . 

Address to the party receiving a certificate — 

Dear : As you are about to remove from the vicinity 

of the church with which you have been connected, it is most 
important that you should, as early as possible, unite yourself 



2fO 



CATECHISM. 



to some church of your own denomination, and if there be 
none accessible, to seek such church relations as will promote 
your highest spiritual good. It is the most sincere desire of 
your pastor that you may constantly enjoy the favor of God; 
that your faith and diligence may increase, and that you may 
be kept by the power of God blameless unto eternal life. 

, Pastor. 

CERTIFICATE FOR AN UNSTATIONED MINISTER OR 
PREACHER WHO DESIRES TO REMOVE. 

The bearer, S B , an unstationed Minister of the 

Methodist Protestant Church, desiring to remove from this 
circuit, is entitled to receive from the undersigned this cer- 
tificate of his good standing. W P , Pastor. 

E Circuit, January 1, 18 — . 

CERTIFICATE FOR A STATIONED MINISTER OR 
PREACHER, WHO DESIRES TO REMOVE 
TO ANOTHER DISTRICT. 

The bearer, J L , having fully complied with his 

engagements to the Annual Conference, his moral 

character standing fair, and being desirous of removing to 
another district, is entitled to this certificate of his good 
standing. 

A S , President of the 

M Annual Conference. 

January 1, 18 — . 

TRANSFER. 

The bearer, A S , of the O Annual Conference, 

having consented to be transferred to the M Annual Con- 
ference, is hereby duly transferred. 

C S , President of the 

0 Annual Conference. 

E — - H , President of the 

M Annual Conference. 

January 1, IS — . 



CATECHISM. 



271 



CERTIFICATES OP ELECTION. 

This is to certify that A B was duly elected a dele- 
gate to the Annual Conference of the — District, to sit 

in on the day of 18 — , by the 

of the 

A R , Chairman. 

S P , Secretary. 

A B was duly elected by the Electoral College of 

the M District, held on this day of — — - 

18 — , a ministerial [or lay] representative to the General Con- 
ference of the Methodist Protestant Church, to sit in the city 

of on the day of 18—. 

G H , Chairman. 

P S , Secretary, 

CERTIFICATE OF ADMISSION TO THE 
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH. 

On the day of 18 

was admitted to membership in the Methodist 

Protestant Church. Signed in behalf of the 

Church by 

Pastor. 

Dear 

You have been loved, redeemed and regenerated by God, 
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. On profession of faith and 
consecration to the service of God, you have been honored by 
admission to membership in the Methodist Protestant Church. 
You should daily study your Bible, and make yourself ac- 
quainted with the little book which you now hold in your 
hand. Determine that you will be two things in the order in 
which they are herein named: 

1. I will be an intelligent Christian. 

2. I will be an intelligent member of the Methodist Prot- 
estant Church. 



2J2 



CATECHISM. 




CATECHISM. 



273 



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CATECHISM. 



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CATECHISM, 275 



Unstationed Ministers and 
Preachers. 



Number of Members . 



Number of Probationers , 



Number of Ministers. 



Number of Preachers. 



Number of Accessions . 



Number of Withdrawals . 



Number of Deaths 



Net Increase. 



Number of Churches. 



Number of Parsonages. . 



Number of Sabbath Schools. . 



Number of Teachers , 



Number of Scholars. . . 



Number of Volumes in Library. 



Value of Church Property , 



AmountReceived fromSabbath Schools 



Amount of Salary Received. 



Home Missionary Collections. 



Foreign Missionary Collections. 



Contributions to AmericanBible Society 



Educational, etc. 



Church Periodicals . 



Charges. 



INDEX. 



. This book is in three parts, and there is a separate index 
for each part. The figures in the left hand of the page in the 
third part refer to sections in the Discipline under their re- 
spective headings. 



ADOPTION — Blessing of, 100; evidence of, 101. 

ATONEMENT— By Christ, 72; nature of, 72; salvation by 
blood, 73; atonement general, 73. 

ANGELS — Existed before man, 41, 42; names — nature, office 
of, 42; fallen angels — names — work of, 43. 

BAPTISjVl — Of Christ, 71; defined, 127; initiatory rite, 127; not 
regeneration, 127; what may be called, 128; baptism of in- 
fants, 128; subjects of, 129; not to be repeated, 129. 

BIBLE — Character and will of God revealed in, 14; character 
of, 24; style and harmony of, 25; books — writers — lan- 
guages of, 25; design of, 26; evidences of its truth, 17-29. 

CHRIST — Divinity of, 30; promised, 54, 55; coming predicted, 
56, 57; typified, 57, 58; in person, 59; of no reputation, 80; 
poor, 80; suffered, 81, 82; died, 82; for whom, 73; resurrec- 
tion of, 83; appearances of, 83; ascension and exaltation of, 
86, 87; our advocate, 75; final Judge, 137. 

CHRISTIANITY— Success of, 27; influence and tendency, 28. 

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION— Nature of, 103; does not exclude 
infirmities — ignorance — mistakes, 104; gradual and instan- 
taneous, 105; should be sought, 106. 

CHURCH — What it is, 121; used in different senses, 121; who 
may become members of, 122; officers in, 124; form of gov- 
ernment, 125. 

COVENANT— Of works, 49; of grace, 89. 

DEATH— Penalty of disobedience, 47; already in the world, 
47; what it implies, 47; universal, 133; power of, broken, 
133; to be destroyed, 133. 



2 7 s 



CATECHISM. 



DIVORCE— Only one cause of, 114. 

FAITH— Condition of salvation, 94; lowest form of, 94; saving 

faith, 94; gift of God, 94; faith and works, 95. 
FORM OF CHURCH PAPERS— Various, 268-275. 
FRUIT— Forbidden, 49. 

GOD— Belief in existence of, 11; knowledge of, 11; idea of, 12; 
proofs of existence of, 12, 13; original revelation of, 13, 14; 
attributes of, 30-39; works of, 40. 

HOLY GHOST— Is God, 31; special agent, 91; given to all men, 

92; fruits of, 100. 
INFANTS— Salvation of, 91; baptism of, 186, 128, 129. 

JESUS— Where and when born, 59; why so called, 60; the God- 
man, 60. 

JUDGMENT— Of the heathen, 91; of all men, 137; by whom, 
137, 138; searching and impartial, 138; time of, 139; close 
of dispensation, 139. 

JUSTIFICATION— What it is, 93; not Christ's righteousness 
imputed to us, 93; difference between justification and re- 
generation, 99. 

LORD'S SUPPER— When instituted, 130; design of, 130; sym- 
bols of, 130; form of consecration, 131; who may com- 
mune, 131; how to partake, 132; monument to the truth of 
Christianity, 132. 

LOVE— Of God, 92; perfect love, 103, 107; to our neighbor, 109. 

MAN — Created in image of God, 44; not developed from mon- 
key, 45; created upright — placed under law, 46; free moral 
agent, 47; fall of, 49; not guilty of Adam's actual sin, 51; 
naturally depraved, 51. 

MARRIAGE— Divine origin of, 111; restriction upon, 112; 
ground of, 112; for life, 112; violation of marriage vow for- 
bidden, 112; ministers may marry, 113; family relation 
founded in, 113; advantages of, 113; should be encouraged, 
113; believers not to marry with unbelievers, 114. 

MEANS OF GRACE— Reading Scriptures— preaching— singing 
God's praise — prayer — the sacraments, 123, 124. 



CATECHISM. 



279 



MERCY— Of God, 38. 

MINISTERS— Called of God, 125; work of, 125; not lords over 

the church, 182; support of, 183. 
MIRACLES— Evidence from, 19-24. 

MORAL DUTIES— Code of, 106; summary of, 107; two tables, 
107; what contained in first, 107-109; what contained in 
second, 109-111. 

NEIGHBOR— Who is, 109; what does love to, imply, 110. 

PRIEST — Origin of, 67; who were priests, 67; Levitical priest- 
hood, 68; duties of, 68; priesthood of Christ, 69; order of, 
69; initiation into, 71; his one offering, 74. 

PROPHECY— Evidence from, 17-19. 

PROVIDENCE— Over all, 52; general and special, 52; wise- 
just — good, 53. 

REDEMPTION— By Christ, 53; moving cause of, 54; benefits 
of, 89. 

REGENERATION— Definition of, 97; mysterious, 98; ef- 
fected by divine agency, 98; instantaneous, 99; difference 
between it and justification, 99; necessary to salvation, 
99; should be insisted on, 100; evidence of, 100. 

RIGHTEOUS— Reward of, 141; place and state of, 142; happi- 
ness of, 142; heavenly recognition, 143, 144. 

REPENTANCE— What it is, 95; precedes saving faith, 95, 96; 
human concurrence, 96; union of human and divine ele- 
ments, 97. 

RESURRECTION — Of Christ, 83; final, 133; foreshadowed in 
Old Testament, 134; Christ procuring cause, 134; same 
bodies raised, though greatly changed, 135, 136; all shall 
be raised, 136. 

REVELATION— Where found, 14; possible— necessary— proba- 
ble, 15; inspired, 16, 17; evidence of divine origin of, 17-29. 

SABBATH— Divine origin of, 115; when instituted, 115; re- 
enacted at giving of the law, 117; original design of, 118; 
needed, 118; not simply a portion of time, 118; change of 



28o 



CATECHISM. 



day, 119; authority for change, 120; proper observance of, 
121. 

SACRAMENT— Meaning of, 126; divine institution of, 126; 
number of, 126. 

SACRIFICE — Duty of priests to offer, 68; design of, 68; slain 
beasts offered in, 69; Christ's sacrifice of himself, 72; sac- 
rifice of the mass, 74. 

SALVATION— Made possible for all men, 90; salvation of in- 
fants and other irresponsible persons, 91. 

SANCTIFICATION— Defined, 101; when it begins, 101; dif- 
ference between it and justification, 102; difference be- 
tween it and regeneration, 102; sanctified in this life, 102. 

SCRIPTURES— Divinely inspired, 26; design of, 26; influence 
of, 28; preservation of, 29. 

SIN — What it is, 48; original penalty of, 47; how Adam's sin 
affects us, 51; all men sinners, 51. 

TRINITY— Persons of, 30; mystery of, 31. 

TRUST— Supreme, 108. 

WICKED— Punishment of, certain, 140; nature of, 140, 141; 

not from malevolence, 141. 
WORSHIP — Duty of, 108; what it includes, 108, 109. 



AMERICAN WESLEYAN METHODISTS— Attempted union 

with, 166; failure of, 166; why, 166. 
CIVIL WAR— Effects of, on church, 168; change of feeling, 

168. 

COKE— Ordination of, 153. 

DISSATISFACTION— James O'Kelley, 157; Republican Metho- 
dist Church, 157. 

EDUCATION— Early attempts, 174; colleges of the church, 
174-176. 



CATECHISM, 



281 



METHODISM — Origin of, 147; introduction into this country— 
by whom, 151; Captain Webb, 152; Boardman and others, 
152; progress of the work, 152. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH — Where and when or- 
ganized, 153; laity ignored, 157. 

METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH— Organization of, 162; 
date of, 163; success of, 163; first General Conference of, 
164. 

MISSIONS — Board of, 170; proposed mission to China, 170; 
mission to Oregon, 170; organization of Woman's Mis- 
sionary Society, 171; mission to Japan, 172; two Boards, 
173; number of missionaries — success of mission, 173. 

PRESIDING ELDERS— Origin of, 157; opposition to, 158. 

PUBLICATIONS — Ofncial, 176. 

REFORM MOVEMENT— "Wesleyan Repository," 159; memo- 
rials to General Conference, 159; convention of 1824, 160; 
"Mutual Rights," 160; memorial to General Conference 
of 1828, 161; action on, 161; expulsions — secessions, 161, 
162; articles of association, 162; convention of 1830, 162. 

REUNION— Discussed, 168; fraternal intercourse, 168; com- 
missioners appointed, 168; basis of union agreed upon, 
169; uuion effected, 169; success of, 170. 

SEPARATION— Of church North and South, 166. 

SLAVERY — Agitation of church by, 164; special cause of 
trouble, 165; remedy proposed, 165; failure of, 166. 

SOUTHERN CONFERENCES— Attempted union with Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, South, 167; failure of, 167. 

STATISTICS— Of church, 176; of Sabbath-schools, 177; of 
young people's societies, 178. 

WESLEY — John — parents of — where and when born, 147; 
where educated, 147; influence on his brother Charles, 148; 
"Methodists"— "Holy Club," 148; visit to this country, 148; 
return to England, 149; conversion, 149; preaching, 150; 
organization of societies, 150; not a church, 151; number 
of his followers, 151. 



282 



CATECHISM. 



F^^F^T^ III. 

ANNUAL CONFERENCE— Of whom composed, 191; members 
subject to direction of, 191; preachers not entitled to vote 
in, 191; right to representation in, 191; election of dele- 
gates to, 191; powers of, 192; additional duties of, 192; re- 
stricted, 193; how not construed, 194; by whom called to 
order, 223; judge of elections, 223; quorum, 223; charges 
of immorality, how disposed of, 224; prosecutor, 224; ex- 
pense provided for by, 224; eligibility to membership in, 
224; testimonial not to oe withheld, 225; not obliged to 
employ incompetent persons, 225; ministers received by 
President subject to vote, 225; change of time or place of, 
234. 

APPEALS — Accuser or member of committee may not vote on, 
206; notice of, 214; court may not, on appeal, go beyond 
record, 230; exception, 230; final decision, 230. 

APPELLANT— Privileges of, 229. 

BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS— Number of members, 252; 
Corresponding Secretary of, 253; power of, 253; location of, 
253. 

BOARD OF HOME MISSIONS— Number of members of— loca- 
tion of — Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer of — au- 
thority of— duties of, 254. 

BO^RD OF MINISTERIAL EDUCATION— Number of mem- 
bers — object of — powers of — Corresponding Secretary and 
Treasurer of, 258, 260. 

BOARD OF PUBLICATION— Location of— how constituted- 
Directories— powers of — elected by General Conference for 
four years— Directories incorporated — reports to General 
Conference, 260-262. 

CANDIDATES FOR LICENSE— Examination of, 219; must 
pass on what, 219, 223; questions propounded, 220. 

CERTIFICATE— Of standing, 186; not a transfer of member- 
ship, 187; certificate of employment, 243; certificate of re- 



CATECHISM. 



moval, 245; valid for six months, 245; responsibility of 
holder, 245; committee on, 242. 

CHURCH— Definition of, 181; Head of, 182; who are entitled 
to membership in, 182; trials, how conducted, 182; power 
inherent in, may be delegated, 183; power not delegated, 
183; independent sovereignties must not be created, 184; 
power to receive members, 185, 188; children of members 
of, how regarded, 186, 210; of whom composed, 188; can- 
not alienate its property, 188; power of, 188; what re- 
quired of, 18S; when regarded as extinct, 250. 

CHURCH EXTENSION— Conferences to organize boards of, 
263; duties of, 263, 264. 

CLASS LEADERS— How elected, 200; if class does not elect, 
appointed by pastor, 200; duties of, 247. 

CONFERENCE COLLECTION— To be taken up in last quar- 
ter, 252. 

CONFERENCE STEWARD— By whom elected— duties of— to 

^vhom amenable, 200. 
CONSTITUTION— Provisions for altering, 208. 
COURSE OF STUDY— Prescribed, 236. 

DELEGATES— Mode of election prescribed by Annual Con- 
ference, 233; rule of election if not prescribed by Annual 
Conference, 233, 234; all delegates laymen in session of 
Conference that elects delegates to General Conference, 
195. 

DISCIPLINE JUDICIARY — How called, 207; duties of, pre- 
scribed, 207. 

DISPUTES— Failure in business— course to be pursued, 216. 
DIVISION— Of stations or circuits, 230. 

DROPPING APPOINTMENTS— How and when, 222; must be 

ratified by Annual Conference, 222. 
DROPPING NAMES OF MEMBERS— How, and by whom, 205; 

how must this provision be interpreted, 206. 

DUTY— Of ministers and members, 183. 



284 



CATECHISM. 



ELDERS— Parity of, 182; authority of, 229; supply of Presi- 
dent's place in ordination of, 229. 

ELDER'S ORDERS— Eligibility to, 228; examination of can- 
didates for, 228; of persons who cannot attend Conference, 
228; exception as to time, 228; qualifications for, 229; or- 
dination of, by whom performed, 229. 

EDITORS — May be members of Quarterly Conference where 
they reside, 227; by whom elected, 261; "ex-officio" mem- 
bers of Annual Conferences officially visited, 263. 

ELECTORAL COLLEGE— When it shall assemble, 237; man- 
ner of procedure, 237; notice of contest, 238. 

ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES— Part of the organic law of 
church, 184. 

ENVELOPE PLAN — Recommended wherever practicable, 251. 

EXAMINING COMMITTEE— Duty of, 219; restriction of, 219. 

EXPULSION FROM THE CHURCH— For what cause, 203; for 
what admonition, and if persisted in, expulsion, 203; mat- 
ters of opinion, 203; final authority, 203. 
# FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES— Headship of Christ— au- 
thority of the word of God — representative form of church 
government, 181. 

GENERAL AGENTS— Under supervision of Church Boards, 
262; liable to removal for cause, 263; "ex-officio" members 
of Conferences they officially visit, 263. 

GENERAL CONFERENCE— Time and place of meeting, 194; 
of whom to consist, 194; ratio of representation in, 194; 
election of members of, 194; local minister, how elected, 
195; delegates to, elected by separate vote of ministers and 
laymen, 195; election of President and Secretary, 195; judge 
of election returns, 195; quorum, 195; deliberate in one 
body, 195; a vote by orders, 196; yeas and nays, 196; pow- 
ers of, 196; alteration of boundaries — new districts, re- 
ported to, 197; restrictions on, 197, 198; special call of, 
208; how organized, 241; contests for seats in, how de- 
cided, 242. 



CATECHISM. 



GENERAL BOARDS — Who elects, 252; for what length of 
time, 252; to whom responsible, 252. 

INCOMPETENT MEN— No Conference or President obliged to 
employ such, 225, 231. 

MALADMINISTRATION— Penalty of, 204. 

TERMS OF MEMBERSHIP— Probationary, 184; length of, 185; 
rights of, 185; power of church to receive, 185; applica- 
tion, 209; objection to, 209; how received into full mem- 
bership, 209, 210; children of members candidates for, 210; 
walking disorderly, 211. 

MINISTERS— Persons ordained, 187; authority of, 187; must 
have his name on list of some Quarterly or Annual Con- 
ference to be recognized, 224; reception of, from other de- 
nominations, 226, 227; received back without recommen- 
dation, 227; without an appointment, 227; may be mem- 
ber of Quarterly Conference where he resides, 227; may 
not leave work assigned him, 231; entitled to superannua- 
tion shall not be transferred to unstationed list, 231; not 
left without work more than two years, 231; when his 
term of service expires, 232. 

MINISTERIAL OFFICE— Of divine appointment, 182. 
MONTHLY MEETINGS— Shall be held, 189; business of, 189; 

pastor shall preside at, 189. 
NEW DISTRICTS— Setting off, 238; representation of, 239. 
OFFICIAL BODIES— Authority secured to, 184. 
PASTORS — Minister in charge called, 199; assistant, what 

styled, 199; to v/hom amenable, 199; duties of, 244; asso- 
ciate, duties of, 246. 
PERSONAL OFFENCES— Course to be pursued, 215. 
PREACHERS— Authority of, 187; may not vote in Annual 

Conference, 191; responsible to Quarterly Conference for 

moral conduct, 215. 
PRESIDENT OF ANNUAL CONFERENCE— By whom and 

when elected, 198; limit of time, 198; to whom amenable, 

199; duties of, 199, 242, 243, 239. 



286 



CATECHISM. 



PRESIDENT OP GENERAL CONFERENCE— By whom elect- 
ed, 195; duties of, 195; how recognized, 241; powers of, 
241. 

PRIVATE JUDGMENT— Inalienable right to, 182. 

QUARTERLY CONFERENCE— Who compose, 189; number of, 
190; special meetings of, 190; powers vested in, 190; can- 
not grant license to preach without examination of can- 
didates, 190, 223; call of, 218; who shall preside, 218; how 
opened, 218; quorum, 218; action in case of charges, 218; 
duty of first, 219; time and place, 220; notice of, 220; au- 
thority of, 221; supervision of Sabbath-schools, 221; drop- 
ping appointments, 222; order of business, 222, 223. 

RECEPTION OF CHURCHES— How received, 187. 

REJECTED MINISTERS— May not be employed by President, 

228. 

SALARY OF PASTOR— By whom and when fixed, 220. 

SECRETARIES— Of Annual Conference, duties of, 223, 233; of 
General Conference, 241, 242; of Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions, 253; of Board of Home Missions, 254; of Board of 
Ministerial Education, 259. 

STANDING DISTRICT COMMITTEE— Conference shall elect, 
235; duties of, 234, 235. 

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS— Shall be made to church, 251. 

STATISTICS— Report of, required, 232. 

STEWARDS— Circuit and station, how elected, 200, 220; duties 
of, 221, 250, 251. 

STUDENTS— Testimonial required of, 225. 

SUFFRAGE AND ELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE— Determined by 
each Annual Conference, 201; does not include ministerial 
office, 201; conditioned, 201; not supervised by General 
Conference, 202. 

SUPERANNUATED MINISTERS— Placed on list by vote of 
Conference, 124; may be a member of Quarterly Confer- j 
ence where he resides, 227. 

■ 



CATECHISM. 



287 



SUPERNUMERARY MINISTERS— Made so by vote of Confer- 
ence, 224; duties of, 246. 

SUSPENDED MINISTERS OR PREACHERS— May not of- 
ficiate, 206. 

TERRITORY— How divided, 186. 

THE APOSTLES' CREED— 267. 

TRIALS — Of ministers, preachers, or members, 204; copy of 
charges to be furnished, 204; time before trial, 204; right 
of accused, 205; no expulsion of ministers or members 
without trial, 205; sitting on appeal, 205; when trial shall 
take place, 206; committee of, 211; rights of accused and 
prosecutor, 211; restriction on pastor, 212; of class lead- 
ers, stewards, trustees, exhorters, and private members, 
212; right of challenge, 113; written testimony, 213; judge 
of law, 213; record of proceedings, 213; penalty fixed by 
committee, 213; by whom executed, 213; evading trial, 214; 
of accused pastors, 214; of churches, 216. 

TRUSTEES— How elected, 248; general duties of, 248; powers 
of, 249. 

TRUSTEES OP PARSONAGES— How elected, 221. 

UNSTATIONED MINISTERS— Duties of, 247; privilege of, 247. 

WOMAN'S FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY— How consti- 
tuted — object of — what required of — how to secure funds — 
of what it shall have charge, 155, 156. 

WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY— When organized 
—objects— how constituted— raising of funds— controls its 
own funds, 256, 258. 

YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR — 
How organized, 265; what they shall form, 265; impor- 
tance of, 265; should be brought into closer connection 
with church, 266. 




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